Up to eighty flights have been canceled from Sydney airport in a bank holiday travel nightmare as the east coast is battered by wild rain and wind.
The airport has blamed bad weather and strong winds for the disruptions, which have seen 45 flights canceled from Sydney from 06.00 to 19.30.
Up to 41 flights to the port city have also been canceled in bad news for travelers planning to take advantage of Thursday’s national day of mourning.
“In anticipation of severe weather today, domestic airlines announced overnight that some services would be affected,” Sydney Airport said in a statement.
“Passengers are advised to check with their airline regarding the status of their flight.
“Passengers traveling today are advised to arrive two hours before domestic flight departures and three hours for international services.”
Up to eighty flights have been canceled from Sydney Airport in a holiday nightmare as rain batters the east coast (pictured, lines at airport)
Much of Australia’s east coast will be hammered with rain over the coming days, making for a very wet and miserable bank holiday
It comes as severe thunderstorms and damaging winds are forecast for NSW on Wednesday, with similar storms possible for southern Queensland.
Ongoing flooding is also expected for parts of NSW, Queensland and Victoria, the Bureau of Meteorology said, with several warnings issued for each state.
Central NSW is set to face the worst of the bad weather with heavy rainfall creating the potential for flash flooding, with up to 70mm of rain expected to fall in six hours on Wednesday in the Central West Slopes and Plains and Riverina region.
Sydney, Brisbane and Canberra will be drenched on Thursday afternoon, with millions expected to take the day off to mark the death of Queen Elizabeth II.
A flood warning is in effect for North West, Central West and South West Inland rivers in NSW. The wet weather is a result of a low pressure system moving across south-east Australia.
Port Macquarie on the NSW mid north coast is in for a massive drenching with between 45mm and 85mm of rain over the next three days.
Weatherzone meteorologist Felix Levesque said the low pressure system was gradually moving towards the east coast of NSW and Queensland.
Ongoing flooding is also expected in parts of NSW, Queensland and Victoria, the Bureau of Meteorology said, with several flood warnings issued for each state
Widespread rainfall of 20 to 40mm is in the forecast for northern and central NSW.
“It will push into the already quite saturated catchments and exacerbate and lead to further flood warnings,” Levesque told Daily Mail Australia.
‘The heaviest rain for northern NSW is between now and Thursday morning.’
The meteorologist said significant rainfall would be seen over Thursday and Friday along the east coast from Batemans Bay up to south-east Queensland.
Parts of NSW’s mid north coast could see 80mm of rain fall over the coming days.
In Sydney, up to 10mm of rain could fall on Wednesday and between 15 and 25mm on Thursday.
The rain won’t let up in the NSW capital until Sunday.
Sydney, Brisbane and Canberra will be drenched on Thursday as millions have the day off to mark the death of Queen Elizabeth II.
Melbourne will have a dry bank holiday on Thursday, but rain will begin to fall on Friday to Saturday for the AFL Grand Final.
Brisbane will not escape the wet weather with up to 20mm of rain during Wednesday and Thursday. Thunderstorms are also likely.
Adelaide will see some showers on Wednesday, but the South Australian capital is expecting a mostly dry end to the week, with rain starting again on Sunday.
Hobart will have a wet weekend with most of the rain on Friday.
Those living in the nation’s capital are in for a wet week with 5 to 15mm of rain for Wednesday, with the sun not coming out until Sunday.
Meanwhile across the country, Perth will see some showers on Wednesday but an otherwise dry and sunny end to the week.
Temperatures will soar in the Northern Territory with 35C days forecast for Darwin.