He was hit by a branch that had been blown off a tree besides a walking track.

The store owner feared his wife might be harmed and she no longer liked working late.

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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READ MORE: City braced for its hottest October day on record

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.

LIVE UPDATES: Major weather events facing millions; Record breaking heat expected in NSW

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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‘On Monday, we will see the potential for some very strong winds and heavy rain.’

Sydney residents have sweated through the hottest October day on record, with the temperature surging in minutes this afternoon after a mild morning.

Temperatures reached 39.5 degrees at Penrith in the city's west and 39.8 degrees at Bankstown in the city's south-west, which was the hottest day on record for both communities.

Firefighters have been put on alert as the combination of strong winds and soaring heat pose severe fire dangers to parts of NSW.

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A total fire ban is in place for parts of the state including the Illawarra, Shoalhaven, Upper Central West Plains, Greater Hunter and the Greater Sydney regions.

However several teenage boys did not heed the warning from authorities.

This morning a group lit a fire in bushland next to Lake Parramatta where people were swimming.

The teenagers were seen throwing pieces of paper into the flames however the fire did not spread.

The teenage boys were spoken to by police but they were not fined.

NSW Rural Fire Service Commissioner Trent Curtin said high temperatures combined with strong winds could lead to high fire danger in many parts of the state, while others could be at risk of extreme fire danger conditions.

"Homes in and around grassed areas, and bush areas of NSW, need to make sure they're prepared, they understand the conditions today and they take steps to protect themselves."

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Fire bans have been imposed on the greater metro region, as well as other areas including the Illawarra and Hunter.

NSW Ambulance Chief Superintendent Steve Vaughan said residents should take care, particularly more vulnerable members of the community, during the heatwave.

"Those who are over 65, pregnant women, babies, young children and those with pre-existing medical conditions," Vaughan said.

"They should be aware of the forecasted temperatures and take appropriate action to stay safe."

A thunderstorm is expected to roll over Sydney this evening, bringing some reprieve to residents with cooler temperatures.

Records tumble in NSW and Queensland

Both NSW and Queensland broke their October temperature record by close to a degree yesterday as temperatures soared well beyond 40 degrees Celsius.

Birdsville in the deep Queensland outback near the border with South Australia hit 46.1 degrees, an entire degree more than the previous record set in 1995.

It's also the eighth-hottest October temperature ever recorded in Australia, and the only figure in the top 10 from outside of Western Australia.

In NSW, Bourke hit 44.8 degrees, almost a full degree more than the 1919 mark of 43.9 set in the same place.

Weatherzone said there were several local monthly heat records across the eastern states, including Queensland's Thargomindah hitting 45.1, obliterating its previous October maximum by a full two degrees, and Tibooburra in NSW climbing to 42.8 degrees, 0.2 degrees hotter than the previous mark.

Records aren't officially declared until 9am the following day but there was no chance of the daily maximums being exceeded overnight. 

"Take action now to protect your life and property," the Rural Fire Service warned yesterday.

"These are dangerous fire conditions. Check your bushfire plan and ensure that your property is fire-ready.

"If a fire starts, take immediate action. If you and your property are not prepared to the highest level, go to a safer location well before the fire impacts."

Bureau of Meteorology meteorologist Angus Hines said there was a "bubble" of heat through the eastern interior of the country, covering western Queensland, north-western NSW and northern South Australia.

"The interior is seeing these incredibly hot temperatures, including a top of 31 degrees as the minimum for Thargominhad in the far south-west of Queensland," he said yesterday afternoon.

"Then after a warm morning, there's going to be a warm day."

Local temperature records had already tumbled on Monday across South Australia, NSW and Queensland. 

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Opposition leader Sussan Ley has backtracked on her call for Prime Minister Anthony Albanese to sack Kevin Rudd as Ambassador to the United States after his tense exchange with Donald Trump.

Rudd was involved in an awkward moment during Albanese's landmark meeting with Trump at the White House yesterday, where Trump told the former prime minister, "I don't like you, and I probably never will," in response to a question about criticism from years ago.

Despite the incident being laughed off by Albanese, and reports that Rudd had offered an off-camera apology to Trump – which was accepted – Ley still called for the prime minister to take action.

Ley said yesterday Albanese had to, "back him or sack him", calling Rudd's appointment a "captain's pick".

However, in a press conference in Sydney today, Ley appeared to distance herself from her previous stance.

"Kevin Rudd is the prime minister's choice for ambassador, it's a big job," Ley said.

Ley's backtrack follows comments from Liberal senator Jane Hume, who called Ley's remarks towards Rudd "churlish" in an interview on Sky News.

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Ley added: "I welcome all the comments from my talented backbench and I know, like me, that they are focused on all the bread and butter issues that matter to us.

"What was clear yesterday was that the prime minister has a lot of catching up to do with respect to the relationship with the US and the next steps.

"I welcomed, yesterday, that important first moves and meetings have happened."

Albanese, who is now returning from his trip to Washington, signed an $8.5 billion critical minerals deal with the United States, as well as receiving assurances the Trump administration will back the AUKUS pact.

He confirmed there were no hard feelings between the ambassador and the president, and praised Rudd's work in the role during a difficult time.

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"(Trump) said, 'he looks like a good guy, is he a nice guy?', I said 'he is a nice guy' … and he said, 'oh well, all is forgiven'," Albanese said.

"Ambassadors don't meet leaders. I don't meet ambassadors and neither does President Trump.

"But Kevin Rudd has met every single member of Congress, I think. And he is well-liked on the Hill and he gets things done."

Albanese also insisted Trump's rebuke was not to be taken too seriously.

"[It was] pretty light-hearted," Albanese added.

"It says something about how important we place our relationship with the US that we appointed a former prime minister (as ambassador)."

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The incident occurred near Mount Eden Rd about 1.40am on Saturday, August 2.

‘All the horrible phone calls that came to our house … it was all worth it.’

Very strong winds, high-intensity rain and thunderstorms are forecast.

MetService issues highest weather alerts it can for Wellington, Marlborough, Canterbury.