Gold Coast weather: Heavy rain predicted

Traffic is bumper to bumper on the M1 as rain hits the Gold Coast, with the wet weather expected to continue throughout the evening. READ THE LATEST UPDATES

TRAFFIC is congested on the M1 as motorists make their way home through heavy rain this afternoon.

Five vehicles collided on the M1 near Upper Coomera shortly after 4.20pm.

Paramedics are on scene assessing nine people for injuries.

Motorists are also understood to be stuck in hours-long delays northbound from Banora Point to Tugun as thousands of people line up to cross the Qld border checkpoint.

Traffic was understood to have worsened after a nose to tail accident at West Tweed between a truck and three cars.

One person reported it took them more than two-hours to drive 1km near the border check point.

There is also congestion building in northern parts of the Gold Coast, with traffic thickening on the M1 southbound from Beenleigh to Helensvale as motorists make their way home in wet conditions.

The Bureau of Meteorology is predicting even heavier downpours across the Gold Coast later this evening and is expecting showers to remain Saturday morning.

BoM forecaster Rosa Hoff said the Coast has already experienced around 10mm of rain since 9am yesterday, but heavier rainfall will arrive later.

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“The wet conditions look to be hitting further inland at the moment, meaning the Gold Coast can expect rain later in the afternoon,” she said.

“The bulk of the wet conditions will be overnight, that’s when we’ll see the most rainfall.”

BoM are predicting another 10-15mm of rain across the day for the city and Ms Hoff said the conditions will continue for the early part of the weekend.

“The clouds are expected to still be hanging around Saturday morning but only for a few showers and from midday we’re predicting only 1m for the rest of the weekend,” she said.

“From there the Gold Coast can expect dry conditions ahead, with rain not predicted for the rest of next week at this stage.”

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On Tuesday temperatures reached 24C on the Gold Coast and 25C on Wednesday.

The warm weather is expected to continue despite the rain with temperatures predicted to reach 23C today and hit 25C tomorrow.

Originally published as Gold Coast weather: Heavy rain predicted