Sydney and surrounding areas have been lashed by thunder, lightning and torrential rain as a huge electrical storm passed over the city on Tuesday.
There were reports of two people being hit by lightning in Sydney’s inner west and a video has captured the moment that a Qantas jet narrowly avoided being struck by a lightning bolt as it came in to land at the city’s airport.
Thousands of people were left without power as the storm swept through in the late afternoon, Ausgrid said.
About 10,000 customers in parts of Sydney’s south including Arncliffe, Wolli Creek, Bardwell Park, Bexley and other suburbs were affected, the company said.
“A further 1,800 customers are affected around Hurstville and South Hurstville, and about 1,400 homes and businesses in parts of Yagoona,” a spokesperson said in a statement.
“Crews are also working to get power back to about 1,600 customers in parts of Ashfield and Croydon.”
The Bureau of Meteorology warned that large hailstones and damaging winds could hit parts of the Hunter, Illawarra, Central Tablelands and western areas of Sydney on Tuesday evening for several hours.
Heavy rainfall may also lead to flash flooding in some areas, the BOM warned.
A severe thunderstorm warning was also issued for parts of north-western Victoria, with damaging winds expected.
The BOM said the affected area included Mildura, Ouyen, Murrayville and Rainbow.
Wind gusts of 85km/h have been recorded in the same line of storms just west of the warning area in Renmark, South Australia.
The rain will come as a relief in many parts of the south-east of Australia where a spell of hot and dry weather had increased the threat of bushfires.
