Severe thunderstorms similar to those that battered Sydney are set to hit south-east Queensland, breaking a two-day hot spell.
“We’ve got the possibility for large hail and strong damaging winds, and possibly heavy rainfall,” said the Bureau of Meteorology’s Jess Gardner.
“So a little bit of everything – we definitely have all the ingredients for some very severe storms.”
The repair bill for damage caused by the “catastrophic” hailstorm that struck Sydney and other parts of NSW on Thursday is expected to exceed $125m. The Bom called it the “worst hailstorm in 20 years.”
Hailstones with a diameter of five to eight centimetres fell in Berowra, Casula and Liverpool.
More than 25,000 people have lodged claims so far, the Insurance Council of Australia said on Friday, with three quarters relating to motor vehicle damage.
Here ya go weather livebloggers #sydneystorm pic.twitter.com/anK1Elm9sZ
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Many homes and businesses suffered damage to roofs, awnings and solar panels while overflowing gutters caused interior damage to some properties, the council said after declaring the storm a “catastrophe”.
The storms could hit Queensland’s inland areas late on Friday, but are more likely to make an impact from the Gold Coast up to the Wide Bay area and inland to the Darling Downs on Saturday.
The thunderstorms are being carried by a southerly change moving up the coast. They’re set to bring respite for south-east Queenslanders, who are baking in oven-like conditions just days before Christmas.
At 11.25am on Friday it was 34.9C in the Brisbane city and at 12.50pm it was 36.8C at Ipswich. The maximum temperatures are forecast to peak at 36C for the city and the low 40s in the western suburbs.
Conditions will be cooler in the south for Christmas Day, with Brisbane’s temperature forecast to reach a maximum of 29C. Ipswich is set to hit 31C and Roma 35C.
Tennis ball-sized hailstones smashed into homes and cars in Sydney’s west around 5pm on Thursday, while golf ball-sized stones battered the city’s inner suburbs less than an hour later.
IAG’s share price dropped by more than 4.5% after it announced it had received 6,500 claims so far from the Thursday evening storm in New South Wales. That number is expected to rise significantly in the coming days.
Insurance rivals QBE and Queensland-based Suncorp were also subdued during early trade, with the latter’s stock dropping by more than 4%.
Suncorp said while it was too early to accurately estimate the number of claims it expected to receive, or the final costs, it had received 7,800 claims by 12.30pm on Friday.
Tennis ball-sized hailstones smashed into homes and cars in Sydney’s west on Thursday evening, while golf ball-sized stones battered the city’s inner suburbs less than an hour later in what the Insurance Council of Australia has declared a “catastrophe”.
Wollongong, the Hunter and the Central Coast were also hit, with NSW SES receiving calls to about 1,800 jobs through the night.
Endeavour Energy on Friday afternoon said thousands of homes were still without power.