State’s far north braces for heavy rain and storms while south-east looks forward to respite from heat and extreme weather

This article is more than 1 year old

This article is more than 1 year old

South-east Queenslanders reeling from severe thunderstorms and sweltering heat will have respite from the extreme weather over Christmas.

Energex expected 4,000 homes without power – mostly on the Gold Coast – to have services restored by Sunday afternoon after a powerful system downed trees and power lines on Saturday.

State emergency services received more than 200 calls in the south-east on Saturday.

It was the second storm in two days after the Scenic Rim, Darling Downs, Logan and Gold Coast recorded similar damage on Friday afternoon when 20,000 people lost power.

Heatwave to hit Australia after Christmas with 45 degrees in the south Read more

But after days of temperatures well into the 30s, the region took a pleasant turn predicted to last at least until the end of the year thanks to a southerly change.

“For Christmas Eve and Christmas Day around Brisbane, we’re looking at partly cloudy to mostly sunny conditions and just below average on the temperatures,” the Bureau of Meterology’s James Thompson said. “So, pretty close to perfect for Christmas Day.”

The far north would cop the worst of the state’s weather, forecasters said.

“With the hot and moist air that’s in the tropics at the moment, we are expecting some heavy showers and storms for the next few days across parts of the tropical interior and coast,” Thompson said.

“But south of Townsville we’ll see mostly sunny conditions.”

The Bureau of Meteorology received reports of 4cm hailstones over Nerang on the Gold Coast on Saturday while 94km/h wind gusts swept through around 5pm.





