THE wild weather on Queensland's southeast coast has whipped up more than the swell, with layers of ocean foam blanketing some roads and parks on the Gold and Sunshine coasts.

Gold Coast holiday-maker Lionel Armitstead says the white froth has come up the foreshore at Burleigh Heads and is covering pedestrian paths and picnic areas.

In some places the suds are up to one metre high.

"It's like a snowstorm," he told AAP.

"The kids are up to their shoulders basically ... I've never seen anything like it."

Currumbin resident Mike Thies says the suds have been whipped up by "huge" surf overnight and have blanketed the beach near his house in a thick layer spreading about 15 metres from the beach towards the road.

Mr Thies said he'd seen similar scenes after a wild storm several years ago.

Extraordinary video footage shows a car emerging from beneath a thick blanket of foam, startling traffic police who are forced to leap from its path.

The footage was posted on YouTube and police have confirmed it was filmed on the Sunshine Coast.

The coastal froth is formed during storms when powerful waves force air into the water and produce foam, according to the Griffith University Centre for Coastal Management.

The Sunshine and Gold coasts have been pummelled by the low pressure system that was tropical cyclone Oswald in recent days, with six-metre swells reported in some areas.

Originally published as Storms whip up ocean foam on Qld coast