Intense rain has lashed Melbourne’s outer eastern and southeastern suburbs, leading to flash flooding and fallen trees.

Parts of Victoria’s Gippsland and La Trobe Valley also copped a drenching as severe thunderstorms hit the state on Friday.

The State Emergency Service fielded 388 calls in the six hours to 5.30pm, with 157 of them for flooding, 108 for building damage and 102 for fallen trees.

The Bureau of Meteorology said rain was particularly intense in the outer eastern suburbs of Croydon, Ringwood, Bayswater, Boronia and Ferntree Gully. In the south-east, Narre Warren, Cranbourne, Beaconsfield and Berwick were soaked.

Cardinia recorded 63mm by 6pm, 42mm of which fell within half an hour, while nearby Officer received 48mm. Both Eastern Ringwood and Heathmont received 39mm. The greatest total of 67mm was in She Oaks near Geelong.

Some small hail was recorded at Glen Iris and near Melbourne Airport.

Among the areas flooded was Narre Warren North Road at Princes Highway, with all southbound lanes on the road temporarily closed in the afternoon.

A Bureau of Meteorology thunderstorm warning remained in place for most of the state at 6.30pm.

The storms weare expected to weaken as they continued moving east.

The wet conditions were forecast to remain until about 9am on Saturday in Melbourne, with Victoria’s north-east expected to be the focus of the activity on Saturday afternoon.

That could help temper bushfires still burning in the region.

“I think there will be some assistance – it is still hit and miss, so not a widespread rainfall event, but it will help generally,” Bureau of Meteorology senior forecaster Michael Efron said.

“That heavy rainfall actually could be a concern though in terms of flash flooding and landslides.”

The State Emergency Service has urged people to remain alert, particularly those in fire-affected areas where heavy rain could pose the risk of landslides and debris strewn across roads.

“Flash floods can happen quickly, without warning, and it is important to never enter or drive through flood waters, as it can take just 15cm of water to float a car,” SES State Agency Commander David Baker said.

She Oaks near Geelong also recorded 54mm of rain within about 50 minutes.

The underground car park of Cranbourne Park shopping centre in the south-east of the city was among the buildings flooded, Twitter users recorded. Flooding was also reported on the Monash Freeway, causing major delays.

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I happened to be pointing at the right spot with the zoomed camera in slo-mo mode. This is a single frame from the video clip. #MelbWeather #Lightning pic.twitter.com/1AaXvw0o8N — How good is corruption? 🔭☕️ (@cafuego) February 14, 2020

The bureau issued a severe thunderstorm warning for Melbourne’s outer east, along with parts of the inner east and the city’s north.

“Heavy rainfall that may lead to flash flooding and large hailstones are likely,” the warning read.

The State Emergency Service urged people to remain alert, particularly those in fire-affected areas where heavy rain could pose the risk of landslides and debris strewn across roads.

“Flash floods can happen quickly, without warning and it is important to never enter or drive through flood waters, as it can take just 15cm of water to float a car,” SES State Agency Commander David Baker said.

Meanwhile, high winds continued to hit Lord Howe Island as the remnants of ex-cyclone Uesi moved south.

Uesi passed directly over the island in the Tasman Sea on Thursday night, bringing winds of up to 154km/h and leaving behind a trail of fallen trees, blocked roads and damaged buildings.

The Bureau of Meteorology senior forecaster Jake Phillips said the worst of the storm had passed and would continue to ease on Friday night, with wind gusts peaking at 90km/h.

The Lord Howe Island board chief executive, Peter Adams, said the damage wasn’t severe and no injuries were reported.

“We had all this extreme weather and then this eye of the storm calm,” Adams said on Friday. “It was quite eerie. You could hear the surf pounding the reef but the wind had calmed a bit.”

Adams said the island, home to almost 350 people, was set for a return to glorious weather over the weekend.

The storm was due to pass over Sydney’s coast later on Friday and early Saturday, bringing dangerous surf conditions.

A hazardous surf warning was in place for much of the New South Wales coast on Friday and for the Hunter, Sydney, Illawarra, Batemans Bay and Eden on Saturday.

Parts of NSW are facing more wet weather over the weekend after last week’s deluge, particularly the bushfire-ravaged south coast, the southern tablelands and western Sydney.

Phillips said rain was likely to set in on Saturday afternoon but would be variable in some places due to thunderstorm activity.

The rain has brought much-needed relief for firefighters, with the NSW Rural Fire Service confirming there were no uncontained fires for the first time this season. There were still 25 fires burning south of Sydney.