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Severe weather warning: Sydneysiders urged to stay indoors

Wild weather is causing havoc across Sydney with blackouts, flight delays and a large tree crashing onto a classroom roof of an inner-city school.

Emergency crews are working to remove the tree at Darlinghurst Public School in Potts Point on Monday afternoon.

No injuries have been reported but there have been evacuations, Fire & Rescue NSW says.


Its crews have responded to more than 200 incidents across the Sydney and Illawarra regions, mostly fallen trees and powerlines and automated fire alarms.

The NSW State Emergency Service has received more than 550 calls in the past 24 hours, mostly for leaking and damaged roofs.

Airport disruptions

Domestic and international flights departing Sydney face delays of up to an hour due to 80 km/h winds, a Sydney Airport spokeswoman says.

A Qantas flight has reportedly been forced to abort a landing at Sydney Airport this morning, as the city is lashed by wild weather.

Two people were rescued overnight after their car became trapped in a flooded creed in the Southern Highlands, and more than 2,500 homes across the state are without power.

The SES says it has responded to more hundreds of call outs across Sydney, the Illawarra, the Hunter and NSW South Coast.

People are being urged to stay indoors as damaging winds, high seas and heavy rain pound the area.

Winds of up to 100km/h have already hit areas south of Sydney near Wattamolla in the upper Kangaroo Valley, the Bureau of Meteorology (BOM) said on Monday morning.

There is a severe weather warning as gale-force winds and heavy rain are set to move north into the Hunter region later in the day, BOM reports.

"The best place to be is indoors," BOM's Ellie Goulding said.

Up to 60mm rain is expected to fall over the Sydney CBD on Monday, while areas in the Illawarra region could received double that amount.

A motorbike rider has been rushed to Westmead Hospital after a shocking accident at an intersection at Carlingford in the city's north-west this morning.

Weatherzone meteorologist Brett Dutschke said Sydneysiders should expect a day of wild weather as a complex low-pressure system close to the coast delivers heacy rain and damaging winds across southern NSW.

"Heavy rain will spread right across Sydney during the morning, and following the heavy burst of rain is a burst of very strong winds," Dutschke told Fairfax.

"Winds should peak in the middle of the day or in the afternoon and have potential to reach 90km/h or 100km/h on the coast. It won't be quite as windy further inland, but coastal areas are likely to be hit hardest by the wind and also the rain."

Dutschke said Sydney residents could expect falls of up to 50 millimetres in some areas and said the wild conditions are forecast to continue tomorrow.

"The rain shoud ease off later in the day and even clear from some parts of Sydney but we can expect another burst of heavy rain again tomorrow morning," he said.

Photo: Supplied by SES NSW


"It's unlikely to be as long lasting or as heavy as we've got this morning, but it could bring another 10-20 millimetres, particularly to coastal areas, and that will come along with another burst of very strong winds as well. There is potential for 90km/h winds again tomorrow morning.

"Basically we have got a pair of wet and windy days coming up."

Around Ballina and Lismore more than 100 millimetres of rain fell during the weekend and about 30mm hit Sydney on Sunday.

The State Emergency Services received 162 calls for help overnight on Saturday, almost all for leaking roofs in the Sydney area.

"These rainfalls are significant but they're not spectacular. It's just brought rainfall totals back into line with the average," Bureau of Meteorology forecaster Tim Constable told AAP."August had been a particularly dry month throughout the state."The NSW State Emergency Service (SES) has received 270 calls for help since the bad weather set in on Sunday, mostly for leaking and damaged roofs in the Sydney area.The SES has also responded to two rescues from cars stuck in floodwaters, one in Crookwell, near Goulburn, and the other at Albion Park in the Illawarra, an SES spokeswoman said.There have been no reports of injuries.

The wild weather has sparked warnings from police and ambulance services about treacherous conditions on the road and power has been cut to about 700 homes in Sydney's southwest.Ausgrid says emergency crews are on their way to restore electricity to homes in Birrong and Regents Park.Dangerous surf conditions are predicted with waves up to 4-5 metres high set to batter the Sydney Metropolitan and Hunter coast from Monday afternoon.Thunderstorms and heavy rain may lead to flash flooding in the Illawarra and South Coast districts, BOM warned.

Morning news break – August 18