Punters set for a soaking at Melbourne Cup as wet weather smashes east coast

Queenslanders are being warned they are in the firing line of storms again on Monday as clean-up efforts continue after a week of severe weather.

Wet and soggy conditions are expected to continue in other parts of the country this week, threatening to dampen the revelry at Tuesday’s Melbourne Cup.

A major cold front is moving across the eastern part of the country, affecting western Queensland as far as Tasmania, bringing rain, storms and destructive winds.

“This is a very long weather system covering several thousand kilometres,” Bureau of Meteorology senior meteorologist Angus Hines told NewsWire.

Massive hail hit towns in southern Queensland, including the South Burnett and Somerset regions, over the weekend, and hail measuring in excess of 5 to 8 cm was reported north of Toowoomba.

Car windows, solar panels and property were left shattered after severe weather hit huge hail towns in South East Queensland and northern NSW.

“We had a number of giant hail showers on both Saturday and Sunday,” Mr. Hines said.

“The biggest reports we saw over the weekend were about eight to nine centimeters of hailstones in a few spots. So there are very large, powerful storms that produce these huge hailstones, and they… can and have caused some pretty serious damage.”

As of midday on Sunday, Queensland SES had responded to 30 requests, the majority in Toowoomba and Brisbane.

On Saturday, paramedics examined nine people injured by hail in Esk.

A woman in her 30s was taken to Ipswich Hospital with head and neck injuries, and a man in his 20s was taken to Gatton Hospital with minor injuries.

Fortunately, the bureau said the worst of the storms are in the rearview mirror and conditions are forecast to calm in the coming days.

A cold front extending from Queensland to Tasmania will also cause temperatures to drop in the state’s interior.

“Spots in western Queensland today could be as much as 12C below average November temperatures,” Mr Hines told NewsWire.

It will still be a very wet and cloudy week for those living in parts of South East Queensland and northern NSW as thunderstorms and lightning prepare to ease.

Storms will linger slightly longer inland in eastern Queensland and extend west of Brisbane to the Burnett region.

“If storms develop, it will probably be fairly late in the day (on Monday),” Mr. Hines said.

“(Severe storms) could bring damaging winds, which are likely the biggest threat, with the risk of large hail and heavy rain decreasing from Sunday.”

While conditions are expected to improve somewhat in the north of the country, it will be a wet and wet start to the week for Victoria, which will be a dampener for punters heading into the Melbourne Cup on Tuesday.

The bureau predicts the city could be hit with 40mm of rain on Monday before the rain band dissipates in the afternoon.

“This afternoon the band of rain will clear and we will see brighter skies emerge,” Mr. Hines said.

“Unfortunately there won’t be a return to nice weather as there will still be some pretty cold winds blowing around.”

Due to cold winds and the danger of heavy rain, participants in the Melbourne Cup must carry warm clothing and an umbrella.

“We should get out of this persistent rainfall, but we could still see a few more brief moments of rain both today and on Cup Day,” he said.

Looking ahead, Brisbane residents are expecting a cloudy day with showers and thunderstorms in the evening, with peak temperatures reaching 31C.

There is a chance of moderate showers and thunderstorms in Sydney on Monday, with temperatures rising to 28C.

Conditions will be similar in Canberra, with a high chance of showers and thunderstorms in the evening, with temperatures reaching a maximum of 27C.

It will be a cold and wet day for Melbourne on Monday, with a good chance of showers and temperatures around 16C.

Hobart residents can expect cloudy skies and a high chance of showers, while temperatures are forecast to reach 20C.

It is expected that the rain will continue in Adelaide, with a maximum temperature of 16 degrees in the afternoon.

The weather in Perth will be sunny, with south-easterly winds and the mercury expected to reach 31C.

Darwin is forecast to be warm and partly cloudy, with moderate showers and thunderstorms in the evening, with a maximum temperature of 34C.