Australia braces for heatwave, thunderstorms on New Year’s holiday weekend

Severe thunderstorms battered parts of eastern Australia on Saturday, bringing heavy rain, giant hail and strong winds, days after another storm hit the region over the Christmas holidays.
A wild weather system is forecast to stretch more than 1,000 kms (620 miles) from Port Macquarie in the state of New South Wales to Rockhampton in Queensland, with southeastern Queensland expected to bear the brunt of the storm.
David Grant, forecaster at the Bureau of Meteorology, said during a press briefing, “We’re now entering another active period of thunderstorms. There is potential for further isolated, very dangerous thunderstorms.”
Some regions picked up about 110 mm (4.3 inches) of rain, roughly a month’s total, in two hours on Saturday morning, while hailstones as big as 6 cm (2.4 inches) were also spotted. The bad weather is expected to continue into the new year.
Two people were taken to hospital after lightning strikes, one while inside a car and the other on an excavator.