Sydney's skyline is lit up by wild thunderstorm as city is battered by giant hail and torrential downpour – and the wild weather is set to last all weekend
- Sydney smashed by wild thunderstorms, large hailstones and torrential rain
- Northern beaches copped 93mm of rain within an hour on Thursday night
- SES received 350 calls for help as train services and flights were disrupted
- Wild thunderstorms spread to regions south and north of Sydney
- Rain in Sydney and along the east coast expected to continue into the weekend
Sydney has been been smashed by wild thunderstorms as giant hailstones, torrential rain and damaging winds sparked havoc across the city.
A severe thunderstorm warning remained in place for most of Thursday night as wild weather lashed the Sydney basin, Blue Mountains and regions south of Sydney with hail the size of tennis balls.
The State Emergency Service reported hundreds of calls for assistance, while train services and flights were also disrupted.
Sydneysiders should keep their umbrellas handy with more rain expected to drench the harbour city in the coming days.
Thunderstorms caused havoc on the roads, as dash cam captured this dramatic lightning strike in the Shoalhaven area south of Sydney
Sydney's south-west was the first to cop the wild weather while later on Sydney's northern beaches, a large slow moving storm produced 93mm of rain within an hour at Mona Vale Golf Club.
The severe storms had cleared Sydney by 11pm, but continued north of the city throughout the Hunter Valley and Central Coast regions.
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Thunderstorms caused chaos on the roads, where incredible dash cam footage captured the dramatic moment a lighting strike hit an electrical pole just metres away from the motorist driving in the Shoalhaven area south of Sydney.
The terrifying footage received more than 63,000 views on the Dash Cam Owners Australia Facebook page within three hours.
The SES received more than 350 calls for assistance regarding fallen trees and damaged roofs.
Blacktown, Goulburn, Liverpool and The Hills were among the most affected areas.
SES volunteers rescued a person from a vehicle stuck in floodwaters in Wollongong.
This dramatic photo was sent to Daily Mail Australia by Stanhope Gardens resident Satya Antil in Sydney's north-west
Large hailstones the size of tennis balls smashed Sydney on Thursday
Endeavour Energy emergency crews worked into the night to repair storm damage andrestore power to 8,650 homes and businesses across the Illawarra, Macarthur and Southern Highlands regions.
The weather caused the cancellation of at least 20 domestic flights to and from Sydney Airport.
An airport spokesman told Daily Mail Australia no international flights were cancelled but caused 30 minute delays for flights arriving into Sydney.
'The delay for domestic flights is 60-90 minutes,' he said.
Showers in Sydney and the east coast (pictured in green) are expected to continue into the weekend but will become less intense
Several Qantas flights from Melbourne to Sydney were among the cancellations.
Several Virgin flight from Sydney were also cancelled.
'So me and my wife will sleep on the streets of Sydney, thanks to the duty of care for a cancelled flight without any information of reimbursement from the staff,' an angry Virgin customer tweeted.
Many passengers heading home on the Western line train lines faced major delays.
'Western Line services are experiencing delays due to wet weather conditions causing slower boarding times at various locations. Please take care when travelling due to heavy rain and hail in some locations,' Sydney Trains tweeted.
Urgent power supply repairs also caused delays while Carlingford Line services have been disrupted by urgent level crossing repairs at Telopea.
Many yards were blanketed in hail on Thursday night, including this one in Castle Hill
This terrifying dash cam footage from the Shoalhaven area on the NSW south coast received thousands of Facebook views
Hail the size of golf balls lashed parts of Sydney on Thursday, creating havoc on the roads
Half of Sydney's monthly rainfall was expected to hit the city on Thursday.
The rain in Sydney is expected to continue into the weekend and isn't not expected to clear until Tuesday.
Around 30mm is forecast to soak the city on Friday with another 20mm on Saturday and up to 50mm on Sunday.
Maximum daily temperatures will remain in the mid 20s.
Sydneysiders aren't the only ones who should keep their umbrellas handy over the coming days.
'Heavy rain and thunderstorms will affect eastern districts of NSW during the next few days. However, figuring out when and where the heaviest rain will fall is particularly difficult with this system,' Weatherzone tweeted.
Further north, Brisbane is also in for a soaking with 30mm of rain forecast for Friday and 15mm for Saturday.
Thursday night's storms come three months after a freak summer storm that caused widespread chaos across Sydney was declared an 'insurance catastrophe'.
Another storm also caused extensive damage and flash flooding last month.
This motorist was on her way home from Costco in Marsden Park in western Sydney when she faced terrifying weather conditions
Parts of Sydney resembled a winter wonderland after being inundated with hail
