Australia weather: thunderstorms forecast for Sydney and Melbourne as rain continues across parts of Australia

Heavy rain hits Melbourne with Sydney and Canberra to face wet weather and storms, the BoM forecasts

• Follow our Australia news live blog for latest updates
• Get our morning and afternoon news emails, free app or daily news podcast

Wet weather is set to continue across northern and eastern parts of Australia on Wednesday, with thunderstorms forecast for nearly all capital cities.

It comes as the Bureau of Meteorology warns there of a 55% chance a low sitting off the Queensland coast could intensify to become a tropical cyclone by Sunday. The bureau said that although it was not certain, there was a significant risk the system would impact the Queensland coast during next week, and that a “severe impact is possible”.

Sign up for Guardian Australia’s free morning and afternoon email newsletters for your daily news roundup