Thousands without power as sudden thunderstorm lashes Melbourne

Major roads in Southbank were also drenched, causing flash flooding in City Road, Clarendon Street and the Kings Way entry off the West Gate Freeway.

Public Transport Victoria reported major delays on the Cranbourne and Pakenham lines due to a train fault and “weather-related issues” near Toorak. An equipment fault near Montmorency caused Metro Trains to suspend services on the Hurstbridge line about 1pm.

An updated weather bureau alert at 2.07pm adjusted the thunderstorm warning zone to cover much of the High Country and Gippsland.

Tennis fans scrambled for cover after play was suspended on the outside courts at Melbourne Park. The roof was closed at Rod Laver Arena, allowing play to continue inside after a short delay.

In Geelong, another storm cell caused dozens of lightning strikes on Sunday morning, according to Weatherzone’s radar.

Thousands of Victorians suffered unplanned power outages as the wild weather wreaked havoc.

In Melbourne’s north-west, Jemena reported four active power outages affecting 4029 customers early on Sunday afternoon, including one in Moonee Ponds and another in Attwood near Melbourne Airport. At 2.21pm, about 3000 households remained without electricity.

In Melbourne’s south-east, United Energy reported 1467 customers without power, including one outage in Mount Eliza and another in Nunawading. Parts of Chadstone are also without power.

In western Victoria and central Melbourne, Powercor reported 2118 unplanned customers off supply at 12.40pm, but this fell to 879 at 2.15pm.

In eastern Victoria, AusNet reported about 1000 customers without power shortly after 2pm.

The weather bureau forecast a top of 27 degrees in Melbourne on Sunday and said up to 20 millimetres of rain was possible.

Possibly severe thunderstorms with damaging winds, large hail and heavy falls were predicted about the nearby hills in the afternoon and evening.