NSW town cops 40mm in half an hour as weather warnings remain

The heat and humidity that's clutched much of Australia in recent days could be set to break, with thunderstorm warnings issued for parts of NSW and Queensland.

Earlier predictions of widespread storms across the NSW Mid North Coast, Hunter, Northern Tablelands, Central Tablelands, Newcastle and North West Slopes and Plains appeared to be moderating tonight.

But a warm and very humid airmass was still generating storms around Taree on the Mid North Coast and almost as far west as Tamworth about 7pm.

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Maroota, north-west of Sydney, copped 41 millimetres in just half an hour and almost as much feel at Tangory Mountain in an hour.

The bureau said the storms could continue to produce damaging winds and heavy rainfall that may lead to flash flooding but said the weather had calmed in the Central Tablelands and greater Newcastle.

It was a similar story in Queensland's Northern Goldfields , North West, Central West and Channel Country areas, where the bureau was warning about localised heavy falls from thunderstorms.

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Winton and Richmond were among the towns in the firing line but earlier warnings in south-east Queensland had been cancelled by 6pm.

Earlier, severe thunderstorms were detected on the weather radar near Bilpin and other parts of the Blue Mountains, the Bureau of Meteorology said.

The severe weather came as sweltering heat gripped the country over the weekend.

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Weatherzone reported the main culprit was a trough pushing through south-east Australia, drawing warm, moist north-easterly winds as it pushed eastward.

High humidity levels have added to the sultry conditions - but for the south-east at least, it's set to change this week.

Weatherzone said Melbourne wouldn't see a day top 25 degrees next week and would fall below 20 on Friday, after cracking 34 degrees yesterday.