Fast moving severe storms swept over Sydney around 5am on Tuesday. Credit:Nick Moir Ausgrid said parts of Yagoona, Bass Hill, Sefton, Chester Hill, Georges Hall, Bankstown, Auburn, Birrong, Condell Park, Berala and Regents Park were affected, and they were hoping to restore power by 7am. Power outages also affected about 1000 homes and businesses in parts of Westleigh, Thornleigh and Hornsby following a lightning strike. Lightning affected the train network across Sydney, including the T3 Bankstown Line which was disrupted by a strike early on Tuesday morning. Just before 8am, trains between Cabramatta and Bankstown and Lidcombe and Bankstown were cancelled for urgent signal repairs, with buses replacing trains.

There were more than 4600 cloud to ground lightning strikes between 3am and 6am in the greater Sydney area. Credit:Nick Moir The signal equipment was repaired and trains resumed before 8.15am. Lightning also damaged signal equipment at Gordon, disrupting services between Gordon and Chatswood on the T1 North Shore Line. Trains were briefly halted, and while the service has resumed Transport NSW said passengers on both lines should still allow extra travel time.

Plenty of rain in the morning storms will also mean Tuesday's temperatures of low 30s in the city and high 30s in the west will feel unpleasant, Mr Cronje said. "Today will feel quite humid," he said. "We're not expecting the sea breeze that helped cool things down a bit yesterday." Thunderstorms will likely flare up again in the afternoon, and while the Senior Meteorologist said there were no severe thunderstorm warnings yet, forecasters were expecting some serious storm activity across the coast in the afternoon and early evening. And while there will be no relief from a sea breeze, temperatures are set to drop later on Tuesday. "We're actually expecting a cool change in any case later this evening,"Mr Cronje said, adding daytime temperatures across Sydney are expected to drop between six and eight degrees.

'The TV's been fried': Home struck by lightning near Manly Matt Cox said his family was woken by the thunderstorm early on Tuesday morning, shortly before their house on North Head Scenic Road was hit. "There was a very loud bang, the house felt like it shook a little and we could hear a crackling sound," Mr Cox said. Mr Cox said visually there does not appear to be much damage, but they were keeping the power off until an electrician could make sure the house was fine. "We're getting the damage assessed now, we lost power and some fuses are gone," he said.

"The TV's been fried, the landline looks like it's been burnt out, and the modem's gone." Mr Cox his family of four was fine but shaken, but it was an odd experience. Loading "Of course when it's that close you think 'what's to stop it hitting the house'," he said. "It was quite freaky really."