BOM issues weather warning as east coast to be lashed by rainfall while north of the country hit by heatwave

Swathes of Australia’s east coast continue to be lashed with rainfall as wild weather moves south into parts of NSW and Victoria.

Southeast Queensland is waking to the aftermath of a week-long deluge of storms and heavy rain with the risk of severe storms continuing into Wednesday.

Dozens of Australian Defence Force troops have been deployed across the state to help with storm recovery efforts while authorities continue work to restore power to about 11,000 homes.

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Hundreds of roads remain closed because of flooding with heavy rainfall increasing the potential for landslides and fallen debris.

Dozens of people have needed to be rescued from flood waters since the deluge began over Christmas.

Heavy to intense rainfall is likely to continue throughout the state into Wednesday morning, though the Bureau of Meteorology said the worst of the weather had moved on by Tuesday afternoon.

But conditions will remain hazardous long after the rain eases.

Storms and flooding in the north of NSW have also kept emergency services busy battling the damage.

Some parts of the state received more than a month’s worth of rain in just 48 hours.

The Northern Rivers region has been particularly hard hit with some areas copping more than 530mm of rain.

The state emergency service said crews had completed 28 rescues in the region since Monday.

Severe thunderstorms are predicted for parts of the state and further south in Victoria throughout the rest of the week.

“Moisture is moving south with the risk of severe storms increasing through parts of NSW and much of Victoria,” Bureau of Meteorology meteorologist Miriam Bradbury said.

Further south, thunderstorms are predicted for central and eastern parts of Victoria, including Melbourne on Wednesday.

Lightning stopped flights at Melbourne airport on Tuesday evening and almost 50,000 homes and businesses across the state were left without power.

In Western Australia, a trough of low pressure and a very hot, unstable atmosphere is triggering severe thunderstorms in the state’s North Interior and South Interior.

Severe thunderstorms are predicted to produce damaging winds above 90 km/h in Giles, Kiwirrkurra, Parnngurr and Warburton.