Tens of thousands of people are without power and flights have been disrupted as storms batter Australia's south-east.
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A powerful cold front that arrived on September 7 triggered the Bureau of Meteorology to issue severe weather warnings for parts of NSW, the ACT and Victoria.
Massive wind gusts have been recorded in alpine areas with 143 km/h at Thredbo, NSW, and 137 km/h at Hotham, Victoria topping the charts.
Thunderstorms and damaging winds wreaked havoc in some areas, with Warrnambool on Victoria's southern coast among the hardest hit.
![Volunteers clean up the debris left from storms in Sydney. Pictures by NSW SES Volunteers clean up the debris left from storms in Sydney. Pictures by NSW SES](/images/transform/v1/crop/frm/206436302/eb90e93f-ad9c-4fe3-90e8-2948aa3c38e4.png/r0_0_1600_900_w1200_h678_fmax.jpg)
Shortly before 10am a spokesperson for Victorian electricity distributor Powercor said 22,000 customers were cut off from power.
Faults were caused by strong winds and fallen powerlines, particularly in the state's south-west.
Some customers had been restored by 11.30am but others were expected to remain in the dark until into the afternoon.
![Strong winds and huge swell in Warrnambool, in Victoria's south-west. Picture by Sean McKenna Strong winds and huge swell in Warrnambool, in Victoria's south-west. Picture by Sean McKenna](/images/transform/v1/crop/frm/206436302/e84dcc38-fc72-42ce-8aee-961b7e349f92.jpg/r0_280_5472_3369_w1200_h678_fmax.jpg)
People were urged to remain well clear of fallen powerlines and report them to 13 24 12, the Powercor spokesperson said.
Victoria's State Emergency Service had 350 calls for assistance overnight, 200 for trees down and 140 for building damage.
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NSW SES received more than 200 calls with most of the damage in the Sydney metro area, mostly for fallen trees with some blocking traffic and impacting powerlines.
There are almost 150 volunteers helping out with the clean-up efforts and severe winds are still expected in the Snowy Mountains, Southern Highlands, Goulburn and the ACT.
![A home is damaged by a fallen tree branch. Picture by NSW SES A home is damaged by a fallen tree branch. Picture by NSW SES](/images/transform/v1/crop/frm/206436302/b97b1637-edb2-45f7-8a8f-e3d2c67d86f4.jpeg/r0_108_1080_716_w1200_h678_fmax.jpg)
Wild weather inflicts travel pain
The severe weather has caused pain for domestic travellers with flights cancelled and delayed in Sydney, Brisbane and Melbourne.
A Sydney Airport spokesperson encouraged passengers to check with their airline for their flight's status.
"Due to strong winds and scattered storm cells, airlines have cancelled a number of domestic flights and there will be some delays throughout the day," the spokesperson said.
Melbourne Airport recorded winds of 81 km/h and was reduced to single runway operations early on September 8, causing some delays for arrivals.
The airport returned to operating two runways but with further wild weather forecast was likely to be back down to a single runway at some point during the day.
More severe weather on the way
The cold front responsible for thunder, lightning and damaging winds is moving out to sea on September 8, according to the Bureau.
But a strong, cold westerly wind flow is still impacting southern parts of the country, with damaging wind warnings still current in Victoria, NSW and King Island, north of Tasmania.
![A severe weather warning for damaging winds in NSW. Picture by Bureau of Meteorology A severe weather warning for damaging winds in NSW. Picture by Bureau of Meteorology](/images/transform/v1/crop/frm/206436302/d003f96b-5a73-4930-847f-90791f1bfe29.png/r0_13_858_497_w1200_h678_fmax.jpg)
Gusts could reach 90 to 100 km/h but are expected to ease off during the second half of the day.
Rain showers and small hail is also forecast and waves above 7 metres are possible along the Victorian coastline.
In Victoria, gusts above 110 km/h have been recorded early on September 8 in Mt Nowa Nowa and Mt Gellibrand.
![The severe weather warnings in Victoria. Picture by Bureau of Meteorology The severe weather warnings in Victoria. Picture by Bureau of Meteorology](/images/transform/v1/crop/frm/206436302/c4f8edb2-4ac3-4a43-9e9f-19cb5a35e410.png/r0_13_858_497_w1200_h678_fmax.jpg)
At Warrnambool a 106 km/h gust was recorded at 7.40am.
Damaging wind warnings are in place for southern and central parts of the state.
"There is a risk that parts of the south-west between Colac, Geelong and Bacchus Marsh and also the Bellarine and Mornington Peninsulas may see gusts reach up to 110 km/h for a period until mid-afternoon," the Bureau warns.
The weekend ahead is set to be dry and sunny for NSW and northern Victoria.
But southern Victoria and Tasmania will experience lingering cold air, with showers, small hail and snow at low levels.
Stay up-to-date with weather warnings at bom.gov.au/australia/warnings