Melbourne has been hit by a serious soaking, with heavy rain and thunderstorms causing flash flooding across parts of the city and keeping emergency crews busy.
The wild weather delivered one of Melbourne’s wettest October days in several years, with some areas receiving up to 25mm of rain in just one hour on Thursday afternoon.
Melbourne Olympic Park recorded 47.8mm of rain from 9am, making it the city’s highest daily rainfall total since April 2024.
The sudden deluge caused flooding across roads, creeks and low lying areas, with the Victorian State Emergency Service receiving more than 200 requests for assistance. Emergency crews were called to building damage, fallen trees and flooding, while six water rescues were also carried out after vehicles became caught in floodwater.
Rainfall totals between 20mm and 50mm were recorded around Melbourne and Ballarat, while the Barwon South West region was also among the areas requiring significant SES assistance.
The weather system wasn’t confined to Victoria, with parts of South Australia also receiving substantial rainfall, including totals of around 20mm to 25mm across sections of the Adelaide Hills.
Attention then turned towards eastern Victoria and Gippsland, where particularly heavy falls were forecast as the slow moving weather system continued across the region.
Some locations in eastern Victoria were expected to receive between 100mm and 150mm over the following days.
Conditions were forecast to gradually improve as the low pressure system moved offshore, bringing a much needed break from the rain across Melbourne and other south eastern capitals.
Authorities continue to remind motorists never to attempt to drive through floodwater and to keep up to date with official weather and emergency warnings during severe conditions.