Sydney, Melbourne, Brisbane weather: Urgent warning about wild storms: When they will strike

Storms hanging off Australia’s east coast are set to bring havoc to several areas this weekend.

Starting Friday afternoon, severe thunderstorms may move westward across New South Wales and Queensland.

‘Southeast Queensland and northern NSW will get some storms today,’ Weatherzone meteorologist Brett Dutschke said.

‘The greatest chance of severe storms is between Bundaberg and Newcastle with damaging winds, large hail and brief heavy rain with a chance of flash flooding.

‘Once we get through to tomorrow, storms will largely be confined to central and inland Queensland and on Sunday, they’ll be confined to western Queensland and northern central NSW.’

Possibly severe storms are set to hit New South Wales and Queensland from Friday afternoon (pictured, seven-day rainfall forecast to next Tuesday)

Brisbane is set to see part of those storms on Friday, with a chance of a thunderstorm developing in the late afternoon to evening.

Skies over the Queensland capital will partially clear on Saturday and Sunday before rain redevelops on Monday.

Cloudy conditions over Sydney on Friday and Saturday are forecast to turn windy on Sunday, with gusts travelling up to 40km/h.

Rain is forecast to move over the city later next week.

‘Mid-next week the storm swill swing closer to the east coast,’ Mr Dutschke said.

‘There’s a chance of it being a fairly wet week. There’s a chance a lot of districts in NSW will see some rainfall next during the week.’

That forecast includes Canberra where showers are expected from Monday.

Cloudy weather over Melbourne on Friday is forecast to partially clear on the weekend before developing into showers from Monday through to Wednesday.

The rain will start even earlier in Hobart, with wet weather hanging over the city starting Saturday.

Storms over the weekend are set to bring much-needed rain to several areas in NSW as firefighters continue to battle several dangerous bushfires.

Brisbane will be drenched on Friday while Sydney is set to see thunderstorms from next week

Hot and windy conditions have seen fire bans enforced for the NSW North West slopes, including where fires claimed the life of an Rural Fire Service volunteer on Thursday.

‘This gentleman made the ultimate sacrifice. His tragic and untimely death is a solemn reminder about the dangers faced by our firefighters,’ RFS Commissioner Rob Rogers said.

‘Our thoughts are with his family, friends and firefighting colleagues at this terrible time. We are offering every assistance to his family and fellow brigade members.’

The heavy rain forecast comes in spite of a strong El Niño indicator, which is known for worsening long dry spells.

Mr Dutschke explained increased humidity, a low pressure trough and cooling air in the upper atmosphere have combined to create the storm system which will help slow down bushfires over the weekend.

‘It will certainly reduce fire danger ratings. Humidity will be fairly high so any fires already burning will be burning gently,’ he said.

‘Rain should also go a fair way in controlling the fires and possible extinguish some.’

However, the increased of lightning could see more bushfires ignited.

‘There’s a fair bit of lightning forecast into next week,’ Mr Dutschke said.

‘With that, there’s always a chance of new fires starting.’

The rain will control dangerous bushfires, including in northern NSW where an RFS volunteer was killed on Thursday

Perth is looking to be the sunniest city this weekend with fully clear skies coupled with high temperatures in the low 30Cs forecast through to next week.

Adelaide is looking slightly less sunny with sunny weather turning cloudy from Saturday.

Darwin will see a brief pause from its wet season as showers on Friday clear for a sunny Saturday.