It was a day of extreme weather across multiple cities in Australia after ferocious winds lashed most of Victoria and the coast of South Australia, while sweltering temperatures threatened to break records in Sydney.
Cyclonic winds reaching up to 110km/h were recorded in parts of Victoria, bringing down hundreds of trees, triggering a mass power outage and even cancelling legacy race event the Geelong Cup.
The windy chaos only became worse in the afternoon as a severe weather warning by the Bureau of Meterology (BoM) urged residents to avoid unnecessary travel.
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A low pressure system which developed off the southern coast of SA is now moving east and brought with it damaging wind gusts this afternoon.
The windy conditions are expected to ease by tomorrow morning, the BoM said.
Mass power outages as trees fall in Melbourne
Power outages have surged across the city as the wild winds blow a hefty afternoon gale.
Over 17,000 people are without power across Melbourne as of 5pm.
Victoria's State Emergency Service (SES) earlier warned that gale-force winds could down power poles and trigger mass outages.
The SES said it has fielded over 500 calls for assistance across the state today.
There have been 401 trees which have fallen and 109 reports of damage in the city.
The busiest area for incidents has been north-west Melbourne, the SES said.
The winds also caused some trouble on the roads in Melbourne.
An unlucky truck driver on Western Ring Road in Derrimut in the city's west had a traffic light pole topple onto his vehicle earlier today, causing traffic mayhem in the area.
Geelong Cup cancelled
Officials decided to postpone the Geelong Cup after wild winds caused punters to evacuate.
Following advice from emergency services, the remainder of today's meeting was cancelled.
The strong winds made it dangerous for racegoers on the field to be around the marquees.
According to the BoM, wind gusts reached around 80km/h about 3pm in Geelong.
The rest of the Geelong Cup event could take place tomorrow after the weather conditions ease.
Conditions may ease tomorrow
The wild weather is set to ease tomorrow, with only moderate winds forecast for south-east Victoria.
A frontal system connected to a deep low in the Bass Strait will continue tracking east over NSW into the Tasman Sea, the BoM said.
This will result in a "vigorous westerly flow" across the south-east into this evening and early tomorrow morning.
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Destructive weather also batters SA
Similar wet and windy conditions also faced residents in South Australia today.
The BoM issued severe weather warnings for damaging and locally destructive winds, marine wind warnings, and a sheep graziers warning across the state.
The most destructive winds were expected in the Mount Lofty Ranges, Kangaroo Island, Upper South East, Lower South East and parts of the Mid North and Murraylands districts.
There was also a risk of locally destructive gusts along the coast south-east of Robe.
Adelaide was forecast to be drenched with around 30mm of rain today.
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https://x.com/BOM_SA/status/1980720552626020618
Bushfire warning in NSW as millions face catastrophic heat
Multiple fire bans are in place in NSW, including for Sydney, as the state braces for more soaring temperatures after its hottest October day on record.
The Bureau of Meteorology has cancelled a heatwave warning for NSW but Sydney reached a top of 39 degrees today.
And fire bans have been imposed on the greater metro region, as well as other areas including the Illawarra and Hunter.
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