Christmas weather: rain and storms expected along Australia’s east coast over next 24 hours

Widespread rain and cloudy weather affecting much of the east coast is expected to continue into Christmas Day, with revellers encouraged to prepare an indoor option for tomorrow’s festivities.

Much of Australia’s east coast had a high chance of showers late Sunday, according to the Bureau of Meteorology.

In Queensland, thunderstorms have hit the state’s south-east on Sunday, and rain is expected to continue on Monday when Brisbane’s temperature forecast to reach 34C.

Queensland police said on Sunday that thunderstorms have led to reports of fallen trees, power lines being down and flash flooding in parts of Brisbane and the Gold Coast.

A severe thunderstorm warning was also issued on Sunday for the Wide Bay, Burnett, Darling Downs, Granite Belt and south-east coast regions, amid forecasts of up to 20mm of rain, damaging winds and large hail.

Senior BoM meteorologist Angus Hines said on Sunday that warm ocean temperatures off the east coast were blowing inwards, causing widespread humidity that “provides a fuel to feed these big thunderstorms”.

A low pressure centre near the border of Victoria and New South Wales was forecast to develop on Sunday and intensify on Christmas Day, resulting in thunderstorm conditions from Mackay in Queensland all the way down to Melbourne.

“Some of those places [are] likely to get some brighter, clearer, sunny weather through the morning, but if thunderstorms do develop, they can change the weather really quickly,” Hines said.

“Keep half an eye on the weather warnings and half an eye the radar, see if there are any big thunderstorms or severe thunderstorms near your area, and probably having an indoor option for your Christmas lunch is a good idea.”

Sydney has a 25C maximum forecast on Sunday and a severe thunderstorm is likely with rainfall of up to 30mm. Showers and a 27C maximum are expected on Monday.

Rain is also expected to fall in Melbourne on Christmas Day, where 23C is forecast.

Canberra could see up to 20mm of rain on Sunday and even more on Monday, when there was a forecast maximum temperature of 22C.

The areas likely to face severe thunderstorms on Monday include northern and north-east NSW, as well as central and south-east Queensland. Hail stones larger than 5cm were seen inland of Brisbane on Saturday night.

“[It’s] certainly plausible that we see some more hail of that size, that calibre again on Christmas Day,” Hines said.

Far north Victoria and southern NSW were also set to face severe thunderstorms on Monday as the tropical low develops.

Darwin faced the chance of a severe thunderstorm late Sunday morning, but conditions were expected to clear ahead of Christmas Day with fairly warm and muggy temperatures.

Brighter conditions were being felt throughout the rest of the country on Sunday. Hobart had a maximum forecast of 20C with only a slight chance of showers, and Adelaide a top of 22C and partly cloudy. Those mild conditions were expected to continue throughout Christmas Day.

In Western Australia, heatwave conditions and bushfire warnings remain in place for parts of the state. The state was lashed with hot and dry conditions last week, causing widespread bushfires that destroyed three homes in Perth’s east.

Clear, dry and sunny conditions were forecast on Monday, with a top of 35C for Perth. While this is “good for the beach or barbecue”, Hines said it also meant an elevated fire risk for the south-west, where a number of bushfires were burning.

“We see no real easing or improving trend to the fire conditions in the south-west of the country,” he said.

“The majority of the state has a high fire danger rating [on Sunday], it will linger into Christmas Day and Boxing Day as well.”

The areas of Swan Inland North and Brockman, just inland of Perth, were expected to reach the extreme fire danger rating on Monday with hot, dry and windy conditions. Hines said the Bureau would issue weather warnings on Christmas Day if needed.