A FREAK storm caused flash flooding, mass blackouts, and a rare weather phenomenon resembling a twister in Queensland’s most populated areas on Sunday night.

Massive thunderstorms moved across Brisbane and into Ipswich yesterday, where flash flooding was caused by 80mm of rain falling in an hour.

The damaging storm came on quickly with the first severe thunderstorm warning coming just before 5pm.

By 5.45pm, power was cut to 1259 homes in the northern suburb of Aspley alone because of “damage due to severe weather”.

Very heavy rainfall is now affecting the #Brisbane CBD and moving northwest. 68mm in 30 mins has been recorded at Carindale. pic.twitter.com/OWirr3f0NV — BOM Queensland (@BOM_Qld) January 15, 2017

On the Sunshine Coast, residents were shocked to see what appeared to be a twister or tornado over the suburb of Caloundra.

The unusual site has been explained as a land spout coming with winds of up to 90km/h.

Heatwave temperatures and humidity levels usually reserved for the state’s tropical north, combined with a storm cell on its way up from NSW, culminated in severe storm activity west of Brisbane on Sunday night.

The Queensland Fire and Emergency Service received dozens of call-outs, with the bulk of calls for the State Emergency Services coming between 8pm and 9.30pm.

Brisbane suburbs Chandler and Carindale copped the worst of it, receiving 105mm and 94mm of rain respectively on Sunday.

As the worst of the storm passed Brisbane, Chandler, south of the city, had received 77mm of rain in the hour to 4.45pm — 58mm of that fell in just 30 minutes. In Carindale, 68mm fell in half an hour. In Mount Glorious, 67mm fell in the 30 minutes to 6pm, while 45mm fell in Collingwood Park in the 30 minutes to 7.30pm.

Trains were delayed and flash flooding affected businesses across the Queensland capital.

The Bureau of Meteorology said a number of storm cells had appeared across the greater Brisbane region and surrounding areas across Queensland.

The storms brought with them a cool change welcomed by residents who have endured a five-day heatwave.

Temperatures have soared up to 8C above average as the state sweltered through temperatures about 35C in Brisbane, while Ipswich hit 39C and Thargominda and St George reached a top of 42C on Saturday.

Most of Queensland will be a lot cooler over the coming days before a return to the extreme heat midweek.