Storms, showers and a lot of cloud: Wild Christmas weather

Parts of Queensland are gearing up for widespread rain and thunderstorms as the remnants of a cyclone moves across the state this Christmas.

Parts of Queensland are gearing up for widespread rain and thunderstorms over the Christmas weekend as the remnants of a cyclone moves across the state.

Ex-Tropical Cyclone Ellie is expected to move into Queensland from the Northern Territory, bringing heavy rain and thunderstorms across the far west, northern interior and northern coast on Christmas Eve.

Meteorologist Danny Teece-Johnson said Northern Districts will face a wet Christmas Day, as widespread heavy showers and thunderstorms hit the North Tropical Coast and Herbert and Lower Burdekin, impacting Townsville, Cairns and into the Peninsula and Gulf Country.

“Most of the storm activity is up north in the Far West Interior, west of Cloncurry,” he added.

There will be a “grey” lead-in to Christmas in South East Queensland, before “pesky” storms and showers move in, Mr Teece-Johnson said.

Showers are expected to move into Brisbane from Friday evening, while there is potential for storm activity on the NSW border.

He said more cloud cover on Christmas Eve could also bring in thunderstorms, as temperatures drop below average to between 17-21C overnight, before hitting a maximum in the mid to high 20s on Christmas Day.

“On Christmas Day we won't see anything crazy, maybe 4-5mm of rain,” he said.

“There will be sort of rain and sun episodes during the day and the potential for thunderstorm activity Sunday afternoon - more on the coastal fringes.”

Originally published as Storms, showers and a lot of cloud: Wild Christmas weather