Residents of most coastal areas in NSW have been warned to batten down the hatches as damaging winds and surf is set to pound 1000 kilometres of the state's coastline from Monday afternoon, with the wild weather expected to stick around for a miserable Tuesday morning commute.

A severe weather warning issued by the Bureau of Meteorology on Monday stretches from Victoria to Kempsey on the NSW Mid North Coast, with damaging winds and heavy surf forecast to begin late on Monday and continue into Tuesday.

Wild weather is forecast to sweep from the far south of NSW to the Mid North Coast from Monday afternoon. Credit:AAP

While a small amount of rain is expected to fall on Sydney on Monday, between 20 and 40 millimetres are forecast for Tuesday – the likes of which have not been seen in Sydney since March.

The weather bureau said a front crossing NSW would deepen into a low pressure system off the southern half of the coast late on Monday. A trough associated with this low will then sweep from south to north on Tuesday, generating "vigorous southerly winds and dangerous surf".