Australia Weather News

A man has died and thousands are without power as severe thunderstorms pass across New South Wales.

The man, believed to be in his 80s, died after a tree fell on his car in the NSW Central West town of Cowra on Wednesday afternoon.

The Bureau of Meteorology says very dangerous thunderstorms will likely continue to produce damaging, locally destructive winds, large hailstones and heavy rainfall that may lead to flash flooding into Thursday.

Much of south-eastern NSW has been impacted, including the Illawarra, South Coast, Metropolitan, Hunter, Central Tablelands, and Southern Tablelands districts.

Emergency services in the ACT were inundated with calls for assistance when thunderstorms swept through Canberra at peak hour on Wednesday evening.

Meanwhile, severe thunderstorms were also predicted across parts of the Northern Rivers, Mid North Coast, Snowy Mountains, South West Slopes, North West Slopes and Plains, Central West Slopes and Plains, Northern Tablelands and Upper Western forecast districts.

Wind gusts of 120kph were recorded at Trangie west of Dubbo and 113kph at Cabramurra.

Gusts of around 100kph were also recorded at Sydney Airport, Wagga Wagga, Cowra and Tamworth.

On Wednesday night, at least 130,000 people across NSW were without power.

Earlier in the day, more than 10,000 people lost power in Wagga Wagga and surrounding towns.

In a text message sent to affected customers, Essential Energy said there had been "significant damage" to the electricity network.

Thousands are still without power in Mudgee, west of Batemans Bay, around Coonabarabran and Gulgong, while hundreds have been affected outside of Yass, around Cowra and near Walgett.

More than 62,000 people between Sydney and the Hunter region are currently without power, including suburbs like Hornsby, Epping, Meadowbank and Berowra, mostly due to lightning strikes.

The wild weather has also impacted train stations across the state, with power outages at Lidcombe, Cabramatta and Flemington, multiple track failures at Shellharbour Junction, as well as flooding at Town Hall in Sydney's centre.  

Emergency crews are working throughout the night to restore power to affected areas as quickly as possible, Ausgrid said in a statement.

The State Emergency Service (SES) has warned people camping near creeks and rivers on the Central Coast, Mid North Coast and North Coast to prepare for severe weather.

The SES said it had so far responded to more than 1,091 incidents across the state, as of Wednesday night.

"The Sydney Metro zone has been the worst affected region with the 345 jobs," said SES intelligence and warnings officer David Pedersen. 

Mr Pedersen said the majority of these calls were for fallen trees and damage from wind gusts. 

He added that there has been no calls for flood rescues. 

The NSW RFS said significant lightning activity and strong winds brought down trees, power lines and damaged roofs across the state.

Four saved from building flip

The SES said four people were injured after demountable camping huts flipped in strong wind gusts at Bomen outside ofWagga Wagga on Wednesday afternoon.

Ambulance NSW acting Riverina duty operations manager Amy Barclay said paramedics responded to the call and helped those trapped under the building.

"All four patients have relatively minor injuries, just with some bruises, some lacerations and some sore limbs," she said.

"They responded quite well … They had verbal communication even when we couldn't see them initially."

Ms Barclay said they were lucky the injuries were not serious.

"I think they were very happy when they got out," she said.

SES Southern Zone Duty Commander Shane Hargrave said people and properties had been impacted.

"Trees on cars and also some demountable buildings that have been moved due to the strength of the wind," he said.

Mr Hargrave said people needed to remain careful.

"Please use caution when you are out on the roads," he said.

"Please wait if you are stuck, please make those phone calls.

"We do urge the community to please prepare your properties, tie down those loose items and clean gutters before any of these storms come through."

Wagga Wagga local Stephanie Day said the wind had caused significant damage to her mother's garden.

"She's lost her chook house and her bird aviary. Thankfully no feathered friends were inhabiting it at the time," Ms Day said.

"It's been a crazy, windy whirlwind that's come through there."

Heavy rain, flash flooding, hail and damaging winds are expected to continue through to Thursday across much of the state.