Thousands of homes without power as heavy rain, winds lash Queensland

Thousands of homes were left without power today as wild storms and lightning lashed south-east Queensland. 

Strong winds, heavy rain, hail and about 100,000 lightning strikes were felt in suburbs from Redland City to Scenic Rim today.

The wild weather brought down trees and powerlines in Slacks Creek and caused flash flooding in low-lying streets in Goodna.

At the storm’s peak, more than 5000 homes were left without power, according to Energex.

The dangerous weather is expected to persist into the night. 

South-east Queensland and northern NSW were issued a storm warning for this week.

After temperatures soared over the long weekend, a surprise southerly change is bringing heavy rain and storms for both states.

The Bureau of Meteorology said the damaging wind gusts, heavy rainfall and thunderstorms will extend from the mid-north coast of NSW to parts of south-east Queensland including Brisbane, Toowoomba and Gympie.

Large hailstones are forecast to hit some parts of Queensland as the storms become severe over the next few days.

Damaging winds could bring down trees or tree limbs and make for dangerous driving conditions in these areas.

The BoM said a trough is moving up the southern and central coast of NSW and will sweep through these areas on Tuesday afternoon and evening.

It will also trigger storms and rainfall in Queensland.

Showers and storms will continue into Wednesday in these same areas, mostly hammering south-east Queensland.

The storm risk will fade on Thursday, leaving coastal NSW and south-east Queensland with mostly coastal showers.

A strong wind warning has also been issued by the Bureau for the Moreton Bay and Gold Coast area.