SEQ weather: Forecast for storms in New Year 2025

Parts of SEQ were smashed by wild weather on Saturday night, leaving more than 10,000 without power, with more storms on the cards for much of the week.

A tree branch hit a car at Camp Hill, Brisbane, during Saturday’s storm. Picture: Paul Judge

Parts of SEQ were smashed by wild weather on Saturday night, leaving thousands without power, with more storms on the cards for much of the week.

Nearly 135,000 lightning strikes were recorded and at least a dozen powerlines were down in the Ipswich and Brisbane areas.

Multiple trees were brought down along the Brisbane Valley Rail trail (Wulkuraka to Coominuya) at Ipswich. Picture: Facebook/Friends of Brisbane Valley Rail Trail/Brian Drager

By 9pm, nearly 1000 Energex customers were without power in the Brisbane City Council area, while almost 10,000 Ipswich locals were still in the dark. Power had been restored to these areas by Sunday morning.

A spokesperson from the Queensland Police Service said they received 16 requests for assistance from the SES between 5pm Saturday and 8am Sunday.

Of these requests, five involved structural damage, primarily damage to roofs, while the remaining 11 were reports of fallen trees.

The SES were called to assist in five requests in the Ipswich region, four in Brisbane and Somerset, while the Scenic Rim, South Burnett and the Sunshine Coast each had one call out.

The trees were brought down in several sections of the Brisbane Valley Rail trail (Wulkuraka to Coominuya).

Pictures: Facebook/Friends of Brisbane Valley Rail Trail/Brian Drager

Storms starting rolling across the southeast just after 5pm Saturday, with a severe thunderstorm warning issued for the Central Highlands and the Coalfields. That was cancelled by 6.15pm.

A second severe thunderstorm warning was issued for Beaudesert, Boonah, Jimboomba, Mount Tamborine and Springbrook.

The severe thunderstorm warning was quickly extended to Ipswich, Logan and the Scenic Rim.

Amberley copped 23mm of rain within the hour while 26mm of rain fell near Five Mile Bridge and 16mm fell in Brassall, Greenbank and Hillcrest across one hour on Saturday night.

The storms came after the state was hit by a heatwave on the last weekend of 2024, bringing sweltering conditions.

The temperature in Julia Creek hit 42.9C on Saturday while Amberley hit 35.9C – five degrees above average and the hottest in the southeast.

A tree down on Purga School Road, Purga. Picture: Lacey-Maree Rohrlach

Even hotter conditions were forecast, with the mercury expected to soar close to 40C in Ipswich and 37C in Brisbane on Brisbane but this failed to materialise after the arrival of an early sea breeze.

Bureau of Meteorology senior forecaster Shane Kennedy said a severe weather warning for the South East was cancelled after the cooling wind sprang up.

“The sea breeze came up quite early so we didn’t get the high heat we were expecting – the sea breeze really won the battle (on Saturday),” he said.

Storm approaching Ripley at 6:30pm. Picture: Madeline Elise Kewming

But Mr Kennedy said temperatures were still several degrees above average and conditions remained “quite oppressive”.

Brisbane reached a high of 32C but with a “feels like” temperature of 36C, while Beaudesert reached 35.6C and Greenbank topped 35.5C.

Mr Kennedy said conditions would remain similar on Sunday but the thermometer was set to drop significantly on Monday as a cooling southeasterly change moves in and showers and possible severe storms increase.

“We’re going to see increasing cloud cover and more frequent showers from Monday onwards,” he said.

“It will be cooler but reasonably wet for the first couple of days of the New Year and we may see some moderate rainfall. At this stage, we’re looking at 5-15mm averages but we could see some higher totals in some areas.”

Isolated severe thunderstorms are possible later on Sunday in the southeast and east of Queensland south of Mackay, bringing heavy rainfall and damaging winds.

The Bureau of Meteorology are forecasting severe thunderstorms in the Central Highlands and Coalfields west of Mackay and Rockhampton, while large areas of the Wide Bay and Burnett and inland parts of Southeast Queensland west of Brisbane are also in the firing line.

The southeastern interior of the state can expect the possibility of severe thunderstorms until Tuesday.

A severe heatwave is impacting Queensland. Picture: BOM

Thousands hit the beaches on the Gold and Sunshine coasts on Saturday to cool off, while the South Bank Parklands beach and water parks at Ipswich were also packed. Gold Coast water parks Wet ‘n’ Wild and WhiteWater World also did a roaring trade.

A Surf Life Saving Queensland spokeswoman said more than 108,000 beach visitations were recorded on both coasts as at 1pm, with 22 rescues.

A man was left fighting for life after a near-drowning incident in a backyard swimming pool at Mt Ommaney on Saturday afternoon.

A Queensland Ambulance Service spokeswoman said the man was taken to Princess Alexandra Hospital in a life-threatening condition.

Meanwhile a man in his 50s was plucked from the surf at Burleigh Heads on Saturday morning with breathing difficulties and taken by ambulance to hospital.

A man in his 20s was also taken to hospital after suffering a medical episode in the surf at Palm Beach, while a female scuba diver in her 20s was also transported after surfacing too quickly during a dive in the Southport Seaway.

Heatwave conditions are impacting large parts of Queensland. Picture: BOM

A male e-surfboard rider was also taken to hospital with a “significant” leg injury after being slashed by the fin of his craft at Broadbeach Waters.

Shopping centres across the South East were also popular with shoppers seeking to beat the heat while bagging a Boxing Day sales bargain.