The roof of an aged care facility near Newcastle was torn off and snow lashed the nation's capital in the middle of an AFL game as extreme winds and wild weather attacked the country's south east.

Snow feel at Manuka Oval in Canberra during the match between GWS and Hawthorn.

The crowd roared as the snow began to fall at the end of the first quarter in remarkable scenes at Manuka Oval as the 'feels-like' temperature dipped well below zero.

Snow fell during the match at Canberra's Manuka Oval between the Giants and Hawthorn. (Twitter)

The crowd shivers during the game at Canberra's Manuka Oval. (AAP)

It is understood to be the first AFL game played in snow conditions but it didn't catch the locals off guard with some fans sporting ski goggles in the stands.

It come as a large and complex region of low pressure drives a mass of cold polar air across southern and southeastern Australia, causing four days of dangerous weather in a number of states and territories between Thursday and Sunday.

Conditions began easing into last night, with the Bureau of Meteorology warning the windy conditions will stick around throughout the weekend.

"We have seen the worst of the winds today," meteorologist Stephen Stefanac told AAP.

The bureau had forecast blizzard conditions in the Alpine regions but last night they had been cancelled.

Authorities have urged people to remain vigilant as conditions will remain poor on the roads.

The SES received more than 720 calls for help by 6pm yesterday with 360 in Sydney and the majority coming from the south coast and Southern Highlands.

Most jobs related to fallen trees and branches, with some reporting roof damage.

"There are a lot of destructive winds around, a lot of blizzard-like and blistery conditions," NSW SES spokesman Phil Schafer told AAP.

More than 20,000 homes and businesses had their power interrupted throughout the day with less than 800 without supply by 6.30pm.

Endeavour Energy said it will work into the night to complete repairs but some areas will be without power overnight.

Near Newcastle, the roof of the Presbyterian Aged Care facility nursing home blew off in strong wild winds shortly after 10am yesterday.

NSW Ambulance Inspector Joel De Zuna said that ambulance crews were on scene in a matter of minutes, adding, that incredibly no-one was injured.

An aerial view of the nursing home shows the roof has been torn off the supporting woodern beams (9News)

Emergency crews are on scene as high winds continue to blast the Australia's south-east. (9News)

"NSW Ambulance has responded to an incident where a roof has been ripped off a nursing home in wild weather just after 10am," Mr Du Zuna said.

"Around 30 residents are being evacuated from the facility, some being picked up by family …others have been transferred to nearby medical facilities," he said.

"Everybody is incredibly lucky to be safe and alive… there are no injuries and no-one has been killed.

"This could have ended in disaster."

Further south, ferocious winds ripped off the end of the Frankston Pier.

The iconic pier turned up about 500 metres down the beach, with locals braving the freezing conditions to take photos of the displaced landmark.

A supplied image shows part of Frankson Pier after it broke off into the water during wild weather in Melbourne, Friday, August 9, 2019. (PR IMAGE)

Strong winds up to 130 km/h, thunderstorms and hail are set to sweep across Victoria (Supplied)

Airport chaos

More than 180 domestic flights in and out of Sydney Airport had been cancelled by 6pm, with the airport down to a single runway yesterday.

No international flights have been cancelled but the average delay has been between 30 and 40 minutes.