Australia weather: NSW, Victoria and Queensland face severe storms, heavy rain, damaging winds and floods

A powerful weather system is sweeping across multiple States, bringing the threat of severe thunderstorms, damaging winds, flooding and falls of up to 100mm.

Madeline Cove

The Nightly

3 Min Read

25 Aug 2026

Updated

25 Aug 2026

Comments

Severe storm threat as 100mm deluge bears down. Credit: AAP

Severe weather is sweeping across Australia, with heavy rain, damaging winds, thunderstorms and flooding threatening several states as a sprawling weather system tracks east.

A low-pressure system combining with tropical moisture dragged south from northern Australia has already delivered rain across South Australia, the southern Northern Territory and Tasmania, before spreading into Victoria, NSW and Queensland.

Forecasters are warning the unsettled conditions could bring multiple rounds of dangerous weather on Tuesday, with persistent rain followed by potentially severe thunderstorms in some areas.

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New South Wales

NSW remains on alert for thunderstorms and flooding after heavy rain and damaging winds battered parts of the State overnight.

The Bureau of Meteorology cancelled a severe weather warning for the South West Slopes and Snowy Mountains at 8.23am on Tuesday after the broader area of heavy rainfall eased.

However, the danger has not completely passed, with severe thunderstorms capable of producing localised heavy falls possible across inland parts of NSW during Tuesday afternoon and evening.

Flood watches and warnings also remain current for parts of the South West Slopes and Snowy Mountains catchments.

Conditions are also turning wet closer to the coast, with Newcastle facing a very high chance of rain on Tuesday and falls of between 5mm and 10mm forecast.

Victoria

Victoria is also dealing with the sprawling system after rain spread across the State, with the threat of flooding among the major concerns.

The system was expected to produce some of its heaviest falls around the ranges of northeast Victoria and southern NSW as it moved east.

A low-pressure system was positioned over Victoria on Tuesday morning and is expected to broaden before moving south towards Tasmania during the day.

Melbourne and surrounding areas are also in for a wet Tuesday, with showers continuing before conditions begin to improve as the system moves away.

Queensland

The storm threat stretches north into Queensland, with parts of the State facing the possibility of severe thunderstorms as the unstable weather pushes east.

Rain and storms were forecast to increase across southern Queensland, NSW and Victoria as the system moved through on Monday night and Tuesday.

Parts of inland Queensland could be hit particularly hard.

The Maranoa and Warrego districts have a very high chance of rain on Tuesday, with thunderstorms possible from late morning. Some storms could become severe, bringing damaging winds and heavy rainfall capable of causing flash flooding.

South Australia

South Australia was among the first states to feel the effects of the weather system, with rain spreading across the State on Monday as the huge moisture-laden system moved east.

Rain was concentrated over South Australia, the southern Northern Territory and Tasmania early on Monday before extending towards the eastern states, while thunderstorms were also possible across parts of SA and the NT.

Conditions should gradually ease as the main system shifts further east, although lingering showers remain possible in parts of the State.

Western Australia

Western Australia is largely outside the path of the system currently causing problems across southeastern Australia.

When will the wild weather end?

The worst of the sprawling system should progressively move away from mainland Australia and towards the Tasman Sea from Wednesday.

Thunderstorms and showers could linger behind the main rain band, but conditions are expected to become calmer across much of southeastern Australia later in the week.

For NSW, a trough is expected to move north along the coast on Wednesday before a new high-pressure system extends a ridge across the State, helping winds ease later in the week.

Tasmania should also see the low move away to the east on Wednesday, with a high-pressure system over South Australia extending a ridge across the State behind it.