If you woke to the sound of thunder early this morning be prepared for it to continue throughout the day.

Forecasters predict heavy rain, strong winds and increasing swells.

Sydney is in for another wet and windy day on Friday as the clean-up continues after destructive storms tore through the city, felling large trees and powerlines, crushing cars and cutting power to thousands of homes on Thursday afternoon.

A "strangely warm southerly" is sweeping across Sydney today with little relief from the heat at beaches in NSW and Queensland because of Cyclone Winston causing large, dangerous and powerful surf.

Parts of Canberra have received more than the city's June average rainfall in less than two days with more rain on the way.

A car reportedly crashed into a fallen tree on Streeton Drive. 

What weather will Santa deliver for Christmas Day?

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

Canberrans will face one of the worst fire danger days of the bushfire season on Tuesday as the temperature soars past 30 degrees amid dry, windy conditions.

"Mate, I lost about 100 heartbeats I reckon in that split second, and got a few more grey hairs."

This weekend is set to be another warm, muggy one - and next weekend may be much the same.

South-east Queensland is mopping up after being battered by a line of intense thunderstorms that cut power to more than 27,000 homes and businesses.

Canberra hasn't seen any heatwaves this summer, but that doesn't mean it hasn't been a hot one.

Gusty winds buffeted parts of Sydney late on Tuesday as a band of dry thunderstorms moved across parts of eastern NSW.

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.

The Bureau of Meteorology has warned of possible flash flooding in the Queanbeyan and Molonglo rivers on Friday.

Slow-moving Typhoon Hagupit has weakened as it churns across the central Philippines islands, easing fears of widespread mass destruction, but officials warn the storm could still bring severe flooding to the low-lying capital Manila.

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

NSW will likely cop its third buffeting from an east coast low in five weeks but there is some good news.

Brisbane is in for a wet start to the week, with storms likely to hit the city on Monday and rain predicted for the following four days.