Sydney weather is tipped to warm for the weekend after a couple of milder days on Thursday and Friday. Peter Hannam reports.

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 windswept Canberra is in for a milder and calmer end to the week with above-average temperatures forecast for the weekend.

Unseasonal rains across central Australia are helping to fill Lake Eyre and are providing some unusual recreational activities for residents of Alice Springs.

Thunderstorms may have drenched Sydney and other parts of the state but many parched regions of the state largely missed out.