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Two stories beneath a modern steel production plant on Warsaw's northern edge lies an untouched Cold War relic: a shelter containing gas masks, stretchers, first aid kits and other items meant to help civil defence leaders survive and guide rescue operations in case of nuclear attack or other disasters.

A map of Europe on a wall still shows the Soviet Union — and no independent Ukraine. Old boots and jackets give off a musty odour. A military field switchboard warns: "Attention, your enemy is listening."

Until now, nobody had seriously considered that the rooms built in the 1950s — and now maintained as a "historical curiosity" by the ArcelorMittal Warszawa plant, according to spokeswoman Ewa Karpinska — might one day be used as a shelter again. But as Russia pounds Ukraine, with shelling around a nuclear power plant and repeated Russian threats to use a nuclear weapon, the Polish government ordered an inventory this month of the 62,000 air raid shelters in the country.

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The war has triggered fears across Europe, and these are especially felt in countries like Poland and Romania that border Ukraine and would be highly vulnerable in case of a radiological disaster.

After the Polish government order, firefighters visited the steel plant's shelter last week and listed it in their registry. Warsaw's leaders said the city's subway and other underground shelters could hold all its 1.8 million residents and more in the case of an attack with conventional weapons.

The ArcelorMittal Warszawa plant's Karpinska is suddenly receiving inquiries about the shelter. Following Russian President Vladimir Putin's threats to carry out a tactical nuclear attack, "everyone is worried," she said. "I believe that he will not (stage a nuclear attack), that it would be completely crazy, but nobody really believed he would start this war."

Amid fighting around Ukraine's Zaporizhzhia nuclear plant, Poland also drew up a plan to give potassium iodide tablets to local fire stations, which would distribute them to the population if needed. There has been a rush elsewhere in Europe on potassium iodide — which protects the thyroid gland in the neck in case of radiation exposure — including in Finland where the government urged the population to buy them.

During the Cold War there were hundreds of thousands of shelters in Europe. Some dated from the buildup to World War II, while communist-era authorities also ordered that new residential and production facilities include underground shelters.

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Finland, which borders Russia, along with Sweden and Denmark, have maintained their shelters in order. Finland, for instance, maintains shelters in cities and other densely populated areas capable of accommodating around two-thirds of the population. A few of them are designed to withstand detonation of a 100-kiloton nuclear bomb.

While some countries still maintain their Cold War underground shelters, after the collapse of the Soviet Union some were transformed into museums — relics of an earlier age of nuclear fears that would offer no real protection today.

Bomb shelters were a key element in the former Yugoslavia's preparedness doctrine against a nuclear attack.

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The most famous of all, in a mountainous area 60 kilometres from Sarajevo in Bosnia, is a vast underground fortress built to protect military and political leaders. Known then only to the Yugoslav president, four generals and a handful of soldiers who guarded it, the Konjic site was turned in 2010 into a modern art gallery.

"From the military-political and geopolitical standpoint, the global environment right now is unfortunately very similar to what it was like (during the Cold War), burdened by a very heavy sense of a looming war", said Selma Hadzihuseinovic, the representative of a government agency that manages the site.

She said the bunker could be returned to service in a new war, but with nuclear weapons having become far more powerful it would not be "as useful as it was meant to be when it was built".

In Romania, an enormous former salt mine, Salina Turda, now a tourist attraction, is on a government list of potential shelters.

Many urban dwellers also go past shelters every day without realising it while riding subways in cities like Warsaw, Prague and Budapest.

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"We measured how many people could fit in trains along the entire length of the metro, in metro stations and other underground spaces," said Michal Domaradzki, director of the security and crisis management for the city of Warsaw. "There is enough space for the entire population."

Attila Gulyas, president of the Hungarian capital's Urban Transport Workers' Union, has been involved in regular drills of the city's metro lines. He was trained to shelter thousands of people as chief of the Astoria station at Budapest's metro line 2.

"The system is still in place today, it works perfectly, it can be deployed in any emergency" Gulyas said.

"Up to 220,000 people can be protected by the shelter system in the tunnels of metro lines 2 and 3."

But with Russia waging an energy war against Europe and power costs soaring, for many the chief worry is how to get through the winter.

Sorin Ionita, a commentator with the Expert Forum in Bucharest, Romania, said many consider a Russian nuclear strike improbable as it would not "bring a big military advantage to the Russians."

Still, Putin's threats add to a general sense of anxiety in a world in tumult.

Just days after the Russian invasion began, Czechs bought potassium iodide pills as a precaution of sorts against a nuclear attack. Experts say these might help in a nuclear plant disaster but not against a nuclear weapon.

Dana Drabova, the head of the State Office for Nuclear Safety said that in such a case, the anti-radiation pills would be "useless."

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An Australian family was kicked off a Qantas flight from Bali to Sydney after allegedly abusing the crew.

Qantas told 9News the family was removed from flight QF44 from Denpasar to Sydney yesterday after "abusing our crew a number of times prior to the flight departing Bali".

A man can be seen arguing with a flight attendant in a video posted to social media.

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9News understands he accused the flight crew of making his wife cry.

The captain removed the couple and their children at Denpasar before departure.

"The safety of our customers and crew is our number one priority and we do not tolerate any kind of abusive behaviour," the Qantas spokesperson said.

"We ask customers to follow the direction of crew for the safety and comfort of everyone on board."

Widespread rain and thunderstorms expected across Australia's east coast in the coming days have many communities braced for potential flooding.

The severe weather warnings come as many areas in Victoria, Tasmania, NSW and Queensland are already on Flood Watch after heavy rain last week.

NSW and Queensland are expected to cop the brunt of destructive storms, but there are great concerns about Victoria and NSW, where flooding is still continuing across broad swathes following last week's heavy rainfall.

READ MORE: How you can help those impacted by Victoria's floods

Victoria and NSW

Ahead of the coming weekend the Bureau of Meteorgoly has advised: "Major Flooding will continue across inland New South Wales and northern Victoria as flood waters continue to impact travel, roads and infrastructure.

There are more than 50 flood warnings stretching across Victoria, while NSW has 71.

Evacuation orders are currently in place for both Echuca in Victoria and Moama in NSW, with more rain set to inundate the Murray River.

BoM warns the river could be in major flood until early next week.

The BoM is forecasting the Murray will reach a height of 96.8 on Saturday, similar to the 1993 flood, which reached 94.77, and will remain high for many days, before water moves downstream.

Echuca residents are bracing for the water to rise, having spent a week sandbagging the town and building a levee to protect from floodwaters.

There are also fears flooding will return in the towns of Shepparton and Moroopna, where major flood recovery efforts are underway.

In Melbourne, BoM has warned thunderstorms could lead to flooding again around the Yarra River in Werribee and the already flood-ravaged suburb of Maribyrnong.

https://twitter.com/BOM_NSW/status/1583300910930751490?cxt=HHwWhMCjicbygfkrAAAA

Heavy rain has already been lashing New South Wales' north coast as a massive storm band bears down on the east, sparking severe storm warnings and over 100 flood warnings.

The band was seen stretching more than 3500 kilometres; spanning from Far North Queensland to Victoria's north west corner last night.

Two people became trapped in flood waters in northern New South Wales when their car got bogged today.

Police requested the help of a Rural Fire Service helicopter after reports the two were stuck near Moree.

The car is barely visible in footage captured by a camera on the helicopter, with a slight glint in surrounding murky brown water the only sign of the trouble they are in.

Queensland

South east Queenslanders have been warned to strap in for a "very wet weekend" as storms hang around the state.

Weatherzone said a very unstable stormy weather pattern is occurring in Queensland with tropical moisture feeding a slow-moving trough, leading to heavy rainfall.

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"In Brisbane, it definitely won't be the greatest BBQ weather, with falls in the range of 40 to 80 mm quite likely on Saturday, with a range of 20 to 40 mm potentially on the cards for Sunday," Weatherzone said.

Even heavier falls are possible in Brisbane itself on Sunday.

The Bureau of Meterology (BoM) has issued severe weather warnings across parts of Queensland, with a storm moving north of Charters Towers.

"Severe thunderstorms are likely to produce damaging winds and heavy rainfall that may lead to flash flooding in the warning area over the next several hours," it wrote.

"Locations which may be affected include Mingela and Woodstock."

Residents are advised to keep across BoM's warnings as the system bears down. NSW can be viewed here, Victoria here, and Queensland here. 

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A jury in the trial for the man accused of raping Brittany Higgins has been unable to reach a verdict ahead of the weekend.

Bruce Lehrmann is charged with sexual intercourse without consent and is being tried in the ACT Supreme Court. He has pleaded not guilty to the charge.

Higgins alleges Lehrmann raped her when they returned to Parliament House in Canberra after a night out drinking with colleagues. He denies any sexual interaction happened.

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After 13 hours of deliberation, the jury had not yet reached a verdict on Friday afternoon.

Before dismissing them for the weekend, Chief Justice Lucy McCallum reminded the jurors not to read any media reports or discuss the case with anyone.

"Give yourself a social media-free holiday. You might enjoy it more than you anticipate," she said.

Earlier in the week she said the jury must give a true verdict according to the evidence presented in court.

Justice McCallum said they must decide which evidence from the prosecution and defence they would accept and reject.

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However, she reminded them Lehrmann was presumed innocent and it was up to the prosecution to prove his guilt beyond a reasonable doubt.

In closing arguments, prosecutor Shane Drumgold backed Higgins' credibility, telling the jury she had been an honest and reliable witness.

Drumgold said after the alleged assault in 2019, Higgins was faced with a fork in the road and did not pursue a police complaint because she feared losing her job.

"The political force, the political current, the political turmoil was around her. She had very good reason to be fearful," he said.

But defence lawyer Steven Whybrow said it was possible Higgins fabricated the assault allegation to keep her job.

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He suggested Higgins reconstructed events at Parliament House that night to the point that she now genuinely believes they happened.

Whybrow said Higgins may have thought her employment was on the line and a closer look at her evidence made the prosecution's case against his client "untenable".

"Is there a reasonable possibility this complaint is being made because her 'dream job' is, from her perspective, in jeopardy?" Whybrow said.

The jury, made up of eight women and four men, will reconvene on Monday to continue deliberations until they can reach a unanimous verdict.

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An unwanted visitor has been spotted slithering through the stationery aisles at a South Australian Officeworks.

A brown snake reportedly snuck under the door of Noarlunga Officeworks this afternoon.

Customers were cleared from the store as soon as staff noticed the slippery creature, a witness Michael told 9News.

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"Snaked moved through a number of aisles while the team watched and waited for snake catcher," Michael said.

Once the snake catcher arrived, Michael said it was removed in "three seconds".

"Business as usual followed," he said.

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