Severe storms have caused flash floods across southeastern Queensland, bringing an end to the recent heatwave.

Brisbane felt the worst of the slow-moving system with 98mm of rain on Tuesday. The average rainfall for the entire month of January is 97mm.

According to the regional energy supplier, Energex, the storms left 6,000 homes and businesses without power. Around 3,000 homes across the northern suburbs were affected, but power has now been restored.

At one stage, the storm system spanned more than 1,000km in width. As many as 53,000 lightning strikes were recorded, one of which set a church on fire. The blaze was quickly brought under control

Parts of the Gold Coast hinterland recorded over 100mm of rain. Upper Springbrook notched up 136mm and there were widespread closures as roads were cut off.

Fire crews were called out to rescue a number of people from their cars, and Queensland Rail had to be suspended for a time as the floodwaters rose.

The worst of the storms should now be over, but further heavy downpours are expected over the next few days. One consolation is that temperatures should remain below 30C until early next week.