Lightning strikes across Melbourne as city and state battered by large hail

Victorians will start a long clean up this morning after supercell storms caused chaos late Tuesday afternoon.

Shortly after the parts of the state sweltered through temperatures above 40 degrees, damaging winds and flash flooding left a trail of destruction.

More than 100,000 properties were left without power after the storm downed powerlines across the state.

Hail the size of golf balls blanketed backyards and streets as 20 millimetres of rain fell in just turn 20 minutes, turning local roads into rivers.

Peter Goodwill's home was preparing for a night in front of the TV when his home found itself right in the storm’s path destruction.

More than 100,000 properties are now without power following the storm. Source: Reddit

Redditor Putnum managed to snap a pic of the moment a bolt of lightning struck near his house in Burwood.

"Captured from the safety of my kitchen moments before the golf ball hail hit," the user wrote of the well-timed pic.

"Burwood Highway EXPLODED!"

Victorians now face a lengthy clean-up in the lead up to Christmas. Source: AAP

"I was sitting down watching television and all of a sudden there's this almighty bang,” he told 7 News.

"I go outside to see what the damage was, and here's my roof, it's gone."

Mildura, in the state's far northwest, was hit by winds of nearly 90km/h and 10mm of rain in a short period of time on Tuesday afternoon.

As the cold front moved east, Laverton recorded a wind gust of 98km/h at 4.15pm, Bendigo was hit by a 111km/h gust at 6.34pm, Kilmore Gap reached a 117km/h wind gust at 7.28pm and Wangaratta recorded one of 113km/hr at 7.21pm.

Large swathes of the state have been hit by power outages, with the State Emergency Service recording 100,000 properties without electricity.

A 'five-minute hail storm' in Doncaster, the size of golf balls. Source: Johnny Tsabouka

Huge balls of hail ripped holes through a patio roof at Beaconsfield, in Victoria's south-east. Source: Trent Mckean

SES volunteers have also responded to more than 1000 call-outs, mostly in Mildura, Bendigo, Kilmore, Swan Hill and Shepparton.

Most of the damage has been to buildings, along with fallen trees and power lines.

The Bureau of Meteorology warns that damaging winds, heavy rain and flash flooding may continue to hit Mildura, Bendigo, Shepparton, Seymour, Melbourne, Wodonga, Wangaratta, Traralgon and Bairnsdale overnight.