News about Sarah Scully

More than 13,300 homes and businesses have been left without power around Sydney's inner west as wild weather batters the city. Thousands of Ausgrid customers went without electricity on Friday night amid heavy rain. Residents reported street lights and even traffic lights going down in the area.

Heavy rain, thunderstorms and flash flooding could impact large swathes of Australia this weekend with more rain expected after a week of wet weather.  A high pressure system centred just south the country is drawing in moisture from the atmosphere which will turn to rain as it meets a pool of upper-level cold air over the next few days.  NSW and Victoria are in for a soaking, while southern WA, eastern SA and southern Queensland will also see significant falls.

As the state's southeast continues to lash Queensland, emergency services have been kept brisk, with multiple calls for assistance. As flood waters surged through the Moreton Bay, Somerset, Lockyer Valley, and Darling Downs areas overnight, Swiftwater rescue staff rescued 13 people. As water levels increase, councilor Chris Wilson of Lockyer Valley Regional Council has issued a warning that the remainder of Laidley will face floods. Flooding has been issued for areas of western Queensland as well as much of central and southeast Queensland.

The next seven months, Australians are being warned, could bring significant heatwaves and bushfires to vast swaths of the region. According to the Bureau of Meteorology's most recent climate forecast, an El Nino weather pattern on the east coast, as well as a strong Indian Ocean Dipole on the west, could result in extreme weather between October and April. During the Black Summer bushfires of 2019/20, which scorched nearly 24.3 million acres, Australia suffered some of the most widespread fires on record.

Following the Bureau of Meteorology's announcement of a bleak long-range forecast, Australians are being advised to plan for seven months of severe weather. Although severe weather is expected to occur at any time of the year, the national weather service has warned that extreme weather is most likely to occur between October and April.

According to the Bureau of Meteorology's drought-resistant October report, September rainfall fell 70.8 percent below the 1961-1990 average, the driest September in 123 years. The BoM's rainfall totals also indicated that the east coast of Victoria and New South Wales, as well as the Gasgoyne and Eucla districts in Western Australia, were under drought conditions. According to Daily Mail, Melbourne and Sydney are expected to heat up in the coming days, with the hottest days of the week coming in both capitals on Thursday.

Some Australians are expecting a chilly long weekend, while Victoria is forecast to have the country's coldest Easter in 80 years. This Easter Sunday, the temperatures in Melbourne will drop to just 14 degrees. In 1943, the lowest temperature on an Easter weekend in Victoria was below zero, with just 14.3 degrees. Lower than normal temperatures are forecast across New South Wales this weekend, while snow is predicted in some areas of the state, as well as Victoria and Tasmania. On the other hand, those in Western Australia have been warned to brace for a tropical storm that is forecast to strike northern areas of the state on Sunday night, carrying gale force winds up to 90 km/h from the west Kimberley coast.

On Good Friday, swaths of Queensland, New South Wales, the ACT, and Victoria will be battered by strong thunderstorms, which is expected to make the year's busiest days on the road and in airports. It's the result of a low pressure system traveling east to produce a 'volent weather pattern' spanning central Queensland right down the coast to as far as Victoria. Whether you're looking for a unique experience in Sydney, Brisbane, Canberra, and Melbourne will all be in the firing line for the wild weather.

As the temperature hits skyrockets well into the 40s, Australia's east coast is expected to swelter under another day of heatwave conditions. On Monday, Sydney reached its highest temperature in two years, with nudging 39C in the CBD and 40C in the west. After a sleepless night in which temperatures stayed in the 30s for much of the night, the city is expected to reach a peak of 34 degrees on Tuesday.

On Monday, hot and dry conditions were forecast along the NSW coast and the central west, with areas of the state predicted to experience severe weather until Wednesday. A widespread heatwave warning has been released, with temperatures in some regions reaching 40 degrees and major portions of the state under complete fire bans. Queensland and Western Australia will also be affected by the heatwave.

With a heatwave (left) forecast to have Sydney sweltering in the highest temperatures since 2020 (right, stock image), storms and hail are likely to cause wretched weather in other parts of NSW and Victoria. The Top End is being flooded with monsoonal rain, threatening floods, and some areas of Tasmania may get snow. Both fire and flood warnings are forecast throughout many areas.