Parts of Sydney's Northern Beaches have been cut off by a huge dump of around 50 millimetres of rain brought by a slow-moving storm cell.

The deluge this afternoon caused flash flooding with Avalon Beach seemingly at the epicentre.

Trees were uprooted and thrown onto cars, roads inundated and hail was also reported.

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The NSW SES said it has already responded to 40 calls for help today, mostly across the Northern Beaches and Lower Hunter regions since the storm swept through.

The only main road north to Whale Beach and Palm Beach – Barrenjoey Road, flooded and is blocked off from the intersection of Whale Beach Road, north of Avalon.

Traffic is affected in both directions and drivers are being told to avoid the area if they can.

However the rainfall itself has eased in the northern parts of Sydney by 4pm, with the Bureau of Meteorology cancelling its severe weather warning for the area.

https://twitter.com/NSWSES/status/1808028799088337277?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw

More cold on the way

Australia recorded its first temperature of -10C for the year, in a tiny town located on Tasmania's Central Plateau.

A weather station near Liawenee registered the chilly -10.8C reading just after 7.30am.

It wasn't only the coldest place in the country today, it was also the equal lowest temperature observed anywhere in Australia in two years, according to Weatherzone.

Slightly further north Victoria is also shivering, and Melbourne could be on track to its coldest week in 11 years.

The freezing days and nights are thanks to a cool airmass sitting over south east Australia, according to Weatherzone.

Under the influence of a stubborn high-pressure system which is not likely to move until late this week or into the next.

In Melbourne the mornings could be 5C or colder all week and if this happens it would be the coldest week since June 2013.

Wednesday is forecast to be the chilliest morning, with the minimum expected to drop to just 1C in the city.

Further out, Horsham, Bendigo, Ballarat are all forecast to drop to between –1C and -3C.

Cook Strait ferries have been cancelled from tonight due to the swells.

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Thirty passengers were injured after a flight from Madrid to Uruguay was hit by "strong turbulence", forcing the pilot to make an emergency landing in Brazil, Spanish airline Air Europa said.

"Our flight UX045 bound for Montevideo has been diverted to the Natal airport (in Brazil) due to strong turbulence," Air Europa said in a post on X.

"The plane has landed normally and those who sustained different types of injuries are already being treated."

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The aircraft hit by turbulence was a Boeing 787-9 Dreamliner, according to flight tracking website FlightAware. The plane has the capacity to hold up to 339 passengers, according to Air Europa's website.

"From one moment to the next, the plane destabilized and went into a dive. The people who didn't have seat belts went up in the air and hit the ceiling, and they got hurt – those who had seat belts on, not so much," one of the passengers, Maximiliano, told Reuters.

Another passenger, Stevan, told the news agency: "There are passengers with fractures and injuries to their arms, faces and legs. There are about 30 people injured. It was a pretty horrible feeling; we thought we were going to die there, but thank God it didn't happen."

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The Spanish airline said another plane was set to depart later on Monday (Tuesday) from Madrid and pick up the passengers stranded in Brazil to continue their journey to Uruguay.

Air Europa added that anyone who needed healthcare was being treated in Brazil's Natal International Airport.

The news comes as the latest development in a string of bad publicity for the airplane manufacturer Boeing.

While there's no evidence so far that the injuries on the Air Europa flight had anything to do with a safety malfunction, Boeing has recently faced a series of whistleblowers alleging safety issues at the company.

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Just last week, a whistleblower came forward alleging parts of Boeing's 787 Dreamliner planes were built in an unsafe manner – potentially leading to "devastating consequences." A previous whistleblower, Sam Salehpour, a Boeing engineer, said he found and reported similar gaps in 787 and 777 aircraft.

For nearly two years starting in 2021, the FAA and Boeing halted deliveries of the new Dreamliners while it looked into the gaps. Boeing said it made changes in its manufacturing process and deliveries ultimately resumed.

More than a dozen whistleblowers have come forward against Boeing in recent years, and the number has grown substantially since a door plug blew off a 737 Max plane in January just after takeoff, leaving a gaping hole in the side the plane.

The FAA has opened multiple investigations into Boeing and the US Department of Justice said it may file criminal charges against the company because of its ongoing quality and safety failures.

CNN's Gabe Cohen, David Goldman and Gregory Wallace contributed reporting.