Extreme heat and possible thunderstorms forecast

On Tuesday afternoon, the Insurance Council of Australia declared a state of disaster for south-east Queensland, with more than 16,000 claims received from more than 140 postcodes since Sunday.

Senior meteorologist Miriam Bradbury said storms were possible on Wednesday “pretty much everywhere in Queensland” except the far north.

“The main risk for Queensland will be rain in the northern and central regions, but we could also see some damaging winds and large hail in the south-east,” he said.

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Bradbury said temperatures were 3 to 10 degrees above average due to a warm air mass moving over the state, which continued to trigger severe and extreme heatwave warnings across much of Queensland, including Brisbane.

“These heatwave warnings are likely to continue for the next few days,” he said.

The region is expected to get a brief reprieve from the storms on Friday, followed by more severe weather over the weekend.

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