Weather for Sydney, Brisbane, Melbourne: Severe weather warning for damaging winds across Australia’s south-east

Urgent weather warnings have been issued for five Australian states, with large parts of the country set to experience devastating wind gusts.

Western Australia, New South Wales, Victoria, South Australia and Tasmania are all in the firing line of dangerous conditions on Wednesday, with rain in the forecast.

The Bureau of Meteorology has issued severe weather warnings for southeastern Australia, with possible wind gusts of up to 130km/h.

The windy conditions are the result of one of the coldest fronts of the year moving across the Southeast.

Conditions are expected to be so bad that Tim Wiebusch, head of the SES in Victoria, issued an urgent warning to residents on Tuesday.

“Victorians must take action now and prepare for what could be the strongest weather system we have seen in our state this winter,” he said.

“Please ensure you drive in appropriate conditions and be alert to the potential for fallen trees and debris on our roads over the next 36 hours.”

In NSW, an extreme weather warning has been issued for Sydney, Illawarra and parts of the Metropolitan, South Coast, Central Tablelands, Southern Tablelands, Snowy Mountains and Hunter Forecast Districts due to damaging wind gusts.

Damaging wind gusts averaging 60 to 70 km/h, peaking at around 100 km/h, are possible in parts of the Blue Mountains and western Sydney.

The Illawarra region is expected to experience an average wind speed of 70 to 80 km/h, with gusts of up to around 110 km/h. This wind force will decrease in the early evening.

Similar warnings have been issued in Victoria for the Central, East Gippsland, South West, West and South Gippsland weather districts and parts of North Central, North East, Wimmera and Northern Country.

Horsham, Warrnambool, Maryborough, Ballarat, Geelong, Melbourne, Traralgon and Bairnsdale will all be affected, with wind gusts of up to 110km/h expected.

Mount Buller, in eastern Victoria, recorded wind gusts of 128km/h on Wednesday morning, while Mount Hotham recorded gusts of 111km/h.

In South Australia, the worst wind conditions are expected in Mount Gambier, Naracoorte, Burra, Robe, Millicent and Lucindale, with gusts of up to 90km/h.

Meanwhile, in Tasmania, wind gusts of up to 100km/h will cause devastation in the suburbs of Devonport, Burnie, Whitemark, Strahan, Queenstown and Dover.

BOM meteorologist Sarah Scully said the cold front would bring “very windy conditions and heavy showers and gales” to parts of southeastern Australia.

“New South Wales will be generally dry, but it will be a very windy day, with showers in the southern ranges,” she said.

‘It will be noticeably windy, especially in Sydney and the Illawarra region.

‘It will also be a very windy day in Victoria, while South Australia will have a windy start to Wednesday, but the wind will ease during the afternoon.’

According to Ben Domensino, meteorologist at Weatherzone, Tasmania will be the “hardest hit” by the weather system.

“The strongest wind gusts will occur in the west, south and east of Tasmania, where gusts of up to 110km/h are expected in low-lying areas and above 125km/h in higher areas and along parts of the state’s east coast,” he said.

Another cold front will move across Western Australia on Wednesday evening, bringing heavy wind gusts and showers to the west coast.

These windy conditions are accompanied by unusually warm temperatures for some parts of the country, with Brisbane expected to be 8 degrees warmer than average on Wednesday, with a high of 31 degrees.

Monday there is a a scorching 41.6C was recorded in Yampi Sound, in the northwest Western Australia – Highest winter temperature ever recorded in Australia.

The Bureau predicts the higher temperatures will continue throughout the week, with some areas seeing temperatures as much as 11 degrees higher than the late winter average.

Sydney

Wednesday: Sunny. Winds northwest 15 to 25 km/h, increasing to 35 to 50 km/h in the morning, then veering to west in the early afternoon. Min 16C Max 28C

Thursday: Sunny. Wind west 15 to 25 km/h, becoming light in the morning. Min 13C Max 23C

Friday: Sunny. Wind northwest 25 to 35 km/h, becoming light in the evening. Min 12C Max 29C

Melbourne

Wednesday: Partly cloudy. High chance of showers over the Dandenongs, medium chance elsewhere. Possible small hail over the bayside suburbs in the late afternoon and evening. Winds northwest at 35 to 50 km/h, shifting to west early in the morning, then decreasing to 20 to 30 km/h in the evening. Min 13C Max 18C

Thursday: Cloudy. Average chance of showers. Wind west to northwest 20 to 30 km/h tending north to northwest 25 to 40 km/h during the day. Min 10C Max 17C

Friday: Cloudy. High chance of showers, probably in the morning and afternoon. Wind north 35 to 50 km/h, shifting west 25 to 40 km/h in the morning and tending to west to northwest 20 to 30 km/h in the afternoon. Min 13C Mac 19C

Brisbane

Wednesday: Chance of fog in the early morning. Sunny day. Wind north to northwest 15 to 25 km/h, becoming light in the evening and becoming north to northwest 15 to 20 km/h in the late evening. Min 16C Max 31C

Thursday: Sunny. Light wind that becomes north to northwest 15 to 20 km/h during the day and weakens in the evening. Min 19C Max 33C

Friday: Sunny. Light wind shifting to northwest to northeast 15 to 20 km/h in the afternoon and then light in the evening. Min 16C Max 32C

Perth

Wednesday: Mostly sunny. Chance of morning mist. Small chance of a shower, probably in the evening. Light wind becoming northwesterly, 15 to 25 km/h in the middle of the day. Min 9C Max 21C

Thursday: Cloudy. Very high chance of showers, probably in the morning and afternoon. Wind northwest 25 to 35 km/h, tending to west 25 to 40 km/h in the morning and decreasing to 15 to 25 km/h in the evening. Min 15C Max 21C

Friday: Partly cloudy. Average chance of showers, probably in the morning and afternoon. Wind from the west 20 to 30 km/h. Min. 11C Max. 18C

Adelaide

Wednesday: Cloudy. Average chance of showers, probably early in the morning. Wind from the west 30 to 45 km/h, decreasing to 15 to 25 km/h in the evening. Min 13C Max 17C

Thursday: Partly cloudy. Small chance of a shower. Wind from the west to northwest 15 to 25 km/h, tending to the north to northwest 25 to 35 km/h in the morning. Min 11C Max 22C

Friday: Partly cloudy. Chance of showers. Wind northwest 25 to 35 km/h, shifting to west 30 to 45 km/h in the morning. Min. 14C Max. 19C

Hobart

Wednesday: Cloudy. Very high chance of showers, probably in the morning. Wind northwest 25 to 35 km/h, tending to west 30 to 45 km/h in the morning. Min 8C Max 12C

Thursday: Partly cloudy. High chance of showers, with possible small hail in the morning. Wind west 25 to 40 km/h shifting north to northwest 15 to 25 km/h in the afternoon. Min 7C Max 14C

Friday: Cloudy. Very high chance of showers, probably in the morning. Wind north to northwest 25 to 35 km/h, shifting to the west in the morning and tending to the northwest 20 to 30 km/h in the evening. Min 10C Max 15C

Canberra

Wednesday: Partly cloudy. Wind northwest 30 to 45 km/h shifting west 35 to 50 km/h in the middle of the day then decreasing to 25 to 35 km/h in the evening. Min 8C Max 18C

Thursday: Partly cloudy. Wind west 15 to 25 km/h turning northwest 20 to 30 km/h in the afternoon and then decreasing to 15 to 20 km/h in the evening. Min 4C Max 16C

Friday: Partly cloudy. Average chance of showers. Wind northwest 20 to 30 km/h, increasing to 30 to 45 km/h in the morning, then shifting to west 15 to 25 km/h in the afternoon. Min 5C Max 21C

Darwin

Wednesday: Sunny. Light wind that becomes easterly in the morning 15 to 25 km/h and tends to northeasterly in the afternoon. Min 23C Max 34C

Thursday: Sunny. Light wind that will become east to northeast 15 to 25 km/h in the morning and northwest to northeast 15 to 20 km/h in the evening. Min. 23C Max. 24C

Friday: Mostly sunny. Light wind that becomes northwest to northeast 15 to 25 km/h during the day and becomes west to northwest in the afternoon. Min 23C Max 33C