Boxing Day weather live updates: man killed by tree branch in Victoria with more storms forecast in Queensland and NSW | Australia weather

Severe thunderstorm moving towards Sydney, Harbour Bridge this afternoon

Severe thunderstorm warnings have been issued for Sydney, the Central Coast, Newcastle and the Hunter.

The Bureau of Meteorology said at 12.30pm, severe thunderstorms likely to produce damaging winds and large hail was detected near the Dungog district, the Gresford district and Lakemba.

The thunderstorms are moving towards the south, forecast to affect Sydney city, the Sydney Harbour Bridge and Wyong by 1pm and Gosford, Morpeth and Tocal by 1.30pm.

Meanwhile, a low pressure system is situated in the state’s southwest. A humid and “very unstable” airmass along and to the east of the trough, supported by strong upper winds, will cause the development of severe thunderstorms this afternoon.

Q: A few months ago we were told that we’re now in an El Nino phase, characterised by drought conditions, so why are we seeing so much severe wet weather right now?

Angus Hines explained that we are still in an El Nino, and its impacts are seen when you look at weather patterns over the course of months and seasons as a whole.

When you look over the course of a six month span during El Nino you will see large parts of the country that get drier than average weather, but that doesn’t mean that every day, every week, or even every month is dry.

It is not uncommon in an El Nino year to still get a wet week or a wet month. We have certainly had frequent stormy outbreaks throughout the last month, since towards the end of November right through until Christmas. That has given some parts of the country above average rainfall over the last month…

When we look back over the past six months we will see many places drier than normal, including the driest three-month period ever across Australia through earlier months of the year. A little bit of rain over the course of a week or a month through El Nino [is] not uncommon, though we do expect to see overall drier conditions.

More storms possible

Angus Hines flagged that a number of severe thunderstorms, plus heavy rain, were lashing Gippsland and eastern Victoria:

Just in the last hour or two a band of severe thunderstorms [were] developing around the central parts of Victoria.

There’s a few isolated storms further north but in general it’s been a more settled morning.

The risk is certainly there for more storms, more severe storms, to develop across eastern and south-eastern Queensland, as well as eastern New South Wales – could see some more severe storms today.

What’s causing the storms?

Senior meteorologist Angus Hines from the Bureau of Meteorology just spoke to ABC News about the severe thunderstorms hitting the east coast.

He explained the weather pattern behind them:

[It is] primarily driven by some warm humid air in the low levels of the atmosphere, which is partly contributed to by a ton of warm ocean temperatures off the east coast of Australia providing a lot of that warmth and humidity into the atmosphere.

We also have a big low pressure system higher up which just provides that extra energy and support which allows these thunderstorms do develop and grow, and as you say, they have been causing extensive disruptive weather over the last few days.

While the bureau is still crunching the numbers, Hines said it was likely parts of Victoria, NSW and Queensland will have all recorded their wettest Christmas on record.

Man killed by tree branch in Victoria

Power outage breakdown

The number of customers in south-east Queensland without power has now surpassed 126,000, according to energy provider Energex.

Some of the most impacted areas as 10.45am local time at include:

Threat of ‘very dangerous’ thunderstorms again today

Looking at the weather more broadly across Queensland today, the Bureau of Meteorology is forecasting severe thunderstorms with damaging wind gusts, large hail and heavy rainfall in the eastern districts.

It warns that isolated, “very dangerous” severe thunderstorms are possible again today.

Senior meteorologist Angus Hines told me earlier that severe thunderstorms were likely for “pretty large swathes” of the country today, from central Queensland down to Melbourne:

Many spots will probably have a bit of a bright start to the day, with sunshine and some fairly pleasant weather, but the risk of further severe thunderstorms developing through this afternoon into the evening is definitely there.

It does include those places that were hit pretty hard yesterday around south-east Queensland, there’s a chance there’ll be more severe thunderstorms in that part of the country later on today.

Logan River floods

Thunderstorm warning for Gippsland

Earlier, a severe thunderstorm warning was issued for Gippsland in Victoria, with BoM warning heavy rainfall could lead to flash flooding over the next several hours, affecting locations such as Morwell.

75mm of rainfall was recorded at East Sale over just three hours this morning, and 53.2mm at Balook in just two hours.

Two people die at Central Coast beaches

Power outages across south-east Queensland

As of 10.15am local time, more than 123,000 customers across south-east Queensland were without power after the severe thunderstorms overnight.

In a post to X/Twitter, energy provider Energex said more than 800 power lines were down across the Gold Coast, the Scenic Rim and Logan, with severe damage to the network.

Earlier Danny Donald from Energex said repair work would take “days in some cases”, with old-growth gum trees blocking roads across the network and debris “everywhere”.

Speaking to ABC News Breakfast, he said crews had been working all night, with fresh crews coming onboard this morning:

It’s really becoming a marathon. This isn’t going to be a sprint, it’s a big job and some places, particularly in the more wooded areas, may be without power for a few days, the way it’s looking.

Emergency alert for Scenic Rim

An emergency alert has been issued for Queensland’s Scenic Rim region by the local disaster management group, advising people to stay away from fallen power lines and to avoid damaged roads.

People are urged to call triple zero in life-threatening situations, or the SES for disaster assistance.

Between 6.30pm on Christmas night and 4am today, the Queensland SES received nearly 450 calls for help on the Gold Coast, and across Logan and the Scenic Rim.

Good morning

Emily Wind