The storm hits Melbourne, looking out from under the West Gate Bridge. Credit:Michael Dalton Just before 11pm, Warrigal Road was closed in both directions between Canterbury and Riversdale roads due to a landslide, according to VicRoads. Drivers are being urged to avoid the area and it remains unclear when the road will be reopened. A severe windstorm has also brought down trees and powerlines across the North East and Hume Region. VicEmergency has warned travel is "very dangerous" in these areas due to a number of trees and powerlines down and traffic light outages.

Earlier, VicRoads advised motorists to avoid travel in fierce weather conditions. Nick Addison was inside his house in Templestowe watching the freak thunderstorm with his four-year-old daughter when they heard a deafening sound outside. "We're were just looking up at the lightning across the sky then all of a sudden we heard this pretty loud banging and kept going so we went out the front to take a look," he said. "There were huge hailstones everywhere.... I picked a few of them up and they were easily golf ball-size."

Mr Addison said his car was protected under a double garage, but friends and family living nearby in Templestowe weren't so lucky. "I know my friend's car has copped a fair bit of damage and hailstones just pelted through my parents' pergola," he said. "I'd imagine there is plenty of damage out there tonight." Grosvenor Street in Brighton after Tuesday's deluge. Credit:Ben Buxton Melbourne Airport warned some flights may be delayed due to the weather, with a spokeswoman confirming the airport was operating on a single runway on Tuesday evening.

The airport also urged travellersto check with the airlines they were flying with for updates on delays. The State Emergency Service has responded to more than 1600 call-outs across the state, with the bulk of requests for help coming from regional areas including Mildura, Swan Hill, Kilmore and Shepparton. The SES has also been inundatedwith calls for help from the Manningham municipalitywhich encompasses Doncaster, Templestowe, Donvale, Bulleen, Warrandyte and Wonga Park. A storm rolls into Melbourne on Tuesday night. Credit:Daniel Pockett "Most of these calls have been for assistance with trees down over roads, fallen powerlines and building damage," a State Control Centre spokeswoman said.

"There are also reports of large hail stones falling in some areas, thunderstoms and damaging winds as the storm moves from central Victoria to the east of the state and into Melbourne." An estimated 100,000 Victorians are currently without power, according to the SES. It remains unknown when power will be restored. The bureau has also warned another wild storm front may affect areas including Bendigo, Shepparton, Seymour, Wodonga, Wangaratta, Traralgon and Bairnsdale.

There was a significant rainfall in Melbourne's CBD, with flash flooding reported on the corner of Elizabeth and Victoria streets early Tuesday night. Extreme flash flooding was also reported in Swan Street in Richmond,Brunswick, Brighton andWurundjeri Wayin the city's CBD.

Metro Trains is reporting heavy delays on the Upfield lines due to flooding and equipment faults near Brunswick. The Pakenham line is also experiencing major delays between Dandenong and Pakenham due to equipment faults near Beaconsfield and Officer, with commuters being urged to allow extra travel time.

Flooding at the intersection of Elizabeth and Victoria streets in North Melbourne. Photo: Matthew Leung The mercury dropped suddenly from 37 degrees to 24 degrees just before 5pm and the weather bureau warned there will be a continual gradual decline in temperature on Tuesday evening. A severe thunderstormwarning was issued for Melbourne and areas near Dandenong late Tuesday afternoon. Thunderstorm warnings are also in place for Central, Mallee, Northern Country, North Central and parts of South West, West and South Gippsland and Wimmera Forecast Districts.

Bureau of Meteorology senior forecaster Stephen King said Melbourne could be hit with winds in excess of 90 km/h and hailstones bigger than two centimetres. "There will be a more gradual decline overnight which will see temperatures drop to 17 degrees in Melbourne as the storm rolls in," Mr King said. Winds up to 100km/h have already whipped Laverton while rain has bucketed down in Frankston with eight millimetres measuredby 5pm on Monday.

Lightning over Melbourne CBD Credit:Ben Fox About 30 millimetres ofrain has fallen inMildura after a wild storm battered the regional city,damaging homes, ripping off roofs and knocking over trees in its path. More than 100 calls for assistance were made to the State Emergency Service in Mildura alone, leading to a request for back-up from CFA volunteers.

"[The storms]will start off in western Victoria probably as early as 12 midday and then progress quickly to central Victoria this afternoon and eastern Victoria into the evening and overnight," Mr Kingsaid. Although Tuesday will peak at 36 degrees and fire bans exist in some parts of the state, Mr King said the bureau's "bigger concern" was the thunderstorms they think could possibly develop across Melbourne and into northern Victoria. "If those storms do develop there is the potential that they could become severe, so what that means is we might see damaging winds in excess of 90 km/h, heavy rainfall that could lead to flooding and also large hailstones."

He recommended Melburnians put their cars undercover, secure loose items in their home and stressed the danger of attempting to drive throughflood waters. Email your photos and videos of the storm to webteam@theage.com.au He said while the storm may worsenat 3pm, the most dangerous conditions may develop between 4pm and 6pm. Vic Emergency also warned therewas a moderate chance of thunderstorm asthma across Melbourne, Geelong to Ballarat, west and south Gippsland. Mr King said the storms would take the edge off temperatures and create conditions for a better night's sleep for most Melburnians.