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Heavy rain and hail prompt calls for help
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Heavy rain and hail prompt calls for help

A massive weather system stretching 4,000 kilometers from Western Australia to the east coast will bring rain to 80 per cent of the country, with WA and South Australia the worst affected.

Heavy rain, lightning, hail and strong winds have led more than 170 people to call the State Emergency Service for help across WA in the last 24 hours.

A second rain-bearing system is expected to bring subsequent rain to parts of the state starting Saturday or Sunday.

Nationwide flooding was blocked during the summer months by a persistent ridge of high pressure rooted in the south of the country.

That blocking pattern of high pressure finally broke this week, bringing the first northwesterly cloud band of the season, and decent rain is expected across all states and territories.

Heavier falls are forecast in South Australia and Western Australia, and moderate rainfall is likely in parts of Tasmania.

Overnight, severe storms with destructive winds and hail also brought much-needed baths to drought-affected farmers in WA’s Wheatbelt.

The heaviest falls were in the Bunbury area, with 72 millimeters recorded in the 24 hours to 9am on Wednesday.

“This is the rain Wheatbelt farmers have been waiting for,” said Bureau of Meteorology forecaster Jessica Lingard.

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