Santa looks set to bring Melburnians a mild and mostly sunny Christmas Day.

Melbourne is bracing for flooding as a huge storm moves across the state, with falls of 50 milimetres in the city's north-east suburbs likely on Saturday morning.

Hundreds of homes have been evacuated in southern California as heavy rains and wind lash the drought-stricken area.

Robert Frost once pondered whether the world would end in fire, or in ice. They weren't heralding the world's end, but this week fire and ice both reared their heads across the state.

Canberrans can expect a cool change from Monday after a warm and windy weekend.