Australia Weather News

Parts of south-east Queensland have been hit by heavy rainfall and flash flooding after severe thunderstorms, described as "very dangerous" by the Bureau of Meteorology, swept through late on Sunday afternoon.

BOM forecaster Michelle Berry said the storms were patchy, with much of Brisbane's northern suburbs missing out.

But she said it was the city's southern suburbs which copped a drenching.

"[It was] pretty incredible throughout [the] southern suburbs — that's where we had our heaviest rainfall," she said.

"Carindale and also down towards Chandler — 107mm at Chandler itself and Carindale picking up about 95 [mm] and much of that fell in one hour."

BOM said there was 80 to 90mm in an hour in Ipswich, west of Brisbane, and Mount Glorious received 67mm in 30 minutes.

Police asked motorists to stay off the roads, with Stanley Road in Carina, Moggill Road in Indooroopilly, and Vulture Street in Woolloongabba all affected by localised flooding.

Energex said more than 1,400 of its customers lost power in the storm.

BOM said the storms, which developed rapidly in the humid conditions, moved from New South Wales, continuing north-west.

A severe thunderstorm warning was also issued for Ipswich, Laidley, Gatton, the area south of Esk, Lowood and Fernvale.

A more general severe thunderstorm warning was issued for parts of the Central Highlands and Coalfields, Wide Bay and Burnett, Maranoa and Warrego, Darling Downs and the Granite Belt.

Heatwave predicted from Wednesday

The storms brought a cool change after a five-day heatwave, which saw temperatures soar across the state to between 5 and 8 degrees Celsius above the monthly average.

On Saturday, temperatures reached 42 degrees Celsius at Thargomindah and St George, while Toowoomba reached 36C, Brisbane 35C and the Gold and Sunshine coasts peaked at 33C.

But BOM senior forecaster Rick Threlfall warned the respite would not last for long, with the mercury expected to rise again on Wednesday.

"We will get a lot more cloud around in the south-east and a little bit of cooler air mass coming in for Sunday, Monday and Tuesday, but the bad news is from Wednesday onwards the heat really comes back to a lot of southern Queensland," he said.

"We will likely see another heatwave develop across the south of the state and mid to late week."

Ambulance officers treated 64 people across the state for heat-related stress on Saturday, and in Brisbane, the Enoggera Day Respite Centre opened its doors to the elderly, offering cool treats and air-conditioning.