New Year’s Eve weather: Heavy rain and thunderstorms forecast for parts of Australia – what the conditions look like in Sydney, Melbourne, Brisbane
Emergency services are on standby on Sunday, New Year's Eve. Heavy rain, thunderstorms and giant hail are forecast for parts of northern NSW and Queensland.
A wild weather system is forecast to stretch more than 1,000km from Port Macquarie in NSW to Rockhampton in Queensland, but the forecast is better for other parts of Australia.
Perth will reach a sunny high of 31 degrees on Sunday, but the main focus will be on the area from Charters Towers to Emerald in northern Queensland.
Jonathan How from the Bureau of Meteorology urged residents to keep themselves informed of flood warnings.
“At this stage we do not expect widespread flooding, but areas of heavy rain and thunderstorms could cause flash flooding, as well as rapid rises in creeks, rivers and storm drains,” he said.
Len Latours' (pictured) home was destroyed by deadly storms in south-east Queensland
BoM has predicted it will be a soggy start to 2024 for residents of the greater Brisbane, Canberra, Sydney and Darwin areas, with south-east Queensland almost certain to be hit by rain.
Here's a snapshot of what the weather will look like in your capital city over the next few days. A more complete forecast can be found at the end of the article.
Sydney
Sydney will get some rain on Sunday and it will be a maximum of 24 rainy days. The next three days will also be wet.
Temperatures range from a low of 19 on Monday (New Year's Day) to a high of 29 on Wednesday.
Melbourne
With clear skies, Melbourne will reach a high of 21 degrees on Sunday, while Monday will be mainly sunny and temperatures could reach 25 degrees.
Tuesday and Wednesday are mainly sunny, with temperatures ranging from 17 to 25 degrees.
Brisbane
Showers will increase in Brisbane on Sunday as the city reaches a high of 31 degrees, with more rain expected over the coming days.
Highs of 28 will be reached in the Queensland capital on Monday and Tuesday, with the mercury heading towards 30 on Wednesday.
Some residents will take months, if not years, to rebuild after devastating storms (destroyed house in southeast Queensland pictured)
Perth
Sunday will be sunny with a high of 31 degrees in Perth, with mostly sunny days to welcome the New Year.
On New Year's Day it will be 29, Tuesday 32 and Wednesday 33.
Adelaide
New Year's Eve and New Year's Day will both be sunny in the South Australian capital, with temperatures reaching 26 degrees on Sunday and 28 degrees on Monday.
Tuesday and Wednesday will bring clouds and possible showers, with temperatures ranging from 17 degrees to 30 degrees.
Hobart
It will be 23 degrees and partly cloudy in Hobart on Sunday, with more cloud and rain forecast for the first days of 2024.
Temperatures will range from a low of 12 degrees on Monday to a high of 24 degrees on Wednesday.
Canberra
It will be cloudy with a high of 22 degrees in the national capital on the last day of 2023 and some wet weather will follow.
Temperatures will range from a low of 11 on Monday to a high of 28 degrees, with showers, on Tuesday.
Darwin
Darwin may experience a storm on the last day of the year, but temperatures will reach 35 degrees Celsius.
Rain will follow in the first days of January, with the heat ranging from 26 to 34 degrees on Wednesday.
A tornado left a trail of destruction in southeast Queensland on Christmas Day
Emergency services (pictured) continue to restore power to critical infrastructure after winds felled more than 900 power lines on Christmas Day
Following a tornado in south-east Queensland on Christmas Day, BoM has predicted it will be a soggy start to 2024 for residents of greater Brisbane, with them almost certain to be hit by rain.
As the massive clean-up continues, emergency services continue to restore power to critical infrastructure after winds felled more than 900 power lines on Christmas Day, including 600 on the Gold Coast.
BoM has since confirmed a tornado formed as part of the devastating Christmas Day storms, causing 'very widespread destruction' across the Gold Coast and Scenic Rim region.
Gold Coast Mayor Tom Tate said residents had been hit by winds of more than 150km/h, comparable to a Category 2 cyclone.
The tornado left a trail of destruction in its path, with many homes, vehicles and property destroyed by falling trees and huge gusts of wind.
It is expected that thousands of people will still be without power on New Year's Eve.
Those affected by power outages can learn when power will be restored by checking Energex's website for the restoration plan and preparing accordingly.
“This is an unprecedented task for our Energex employees, but they are up to the challenge,” Queensland Energy Minister Mick de Brenni said.
“We aim to have 90 percent of the power by the end of December 31.”
Energex expects up to 10,000 customers in the Mt Tamborine and Jimboomba areas to be without electricity for weeks
However, Energex expects that up to 10,000 customers in the Mt Tamborine and Jimboomba areas may not be reconnected to electricity for weeks after the storm caused significant damage to key electricity grid infrastructure.
Crews continue to work to repair damaged infrastructure, while personnel move to accommodation in affected areas during reconstruction.
They are still assessing the damage, but major energy systems were completely destroyed during the storm.
Those affected by the Christmas and Boxing Day storms can apply for personal hardship benefits of $180 for individual residents and $900 for families.