People in Melbourne have been warned to brace for possible tornadoes as a thunderstorm with damaging winds and large hailstones rolls across the city.
Funnel clouds, which may turn into a tornado, have been reported over Melbourne Airport, Cragieburn and St Albans although the airport says it is business as usual for now.
The Bureau of Meteorology radar is tracking the storm as it moves in a south-easterly direction towards the city.
Punters at the the annual Oaks Day races at Flemington will need to hold on to their hats, with the storm due to cross over them shortly after 2.30pm.
The storm was forecast to affect Altona, Footscray and waters off Sandringham and Williamstown by 2.35pm.
Melbourne has been drenched in heavy rain for most of the day.
Earlier, Metro Trains issued an alert to passengers to avoid the Elizabeth Street entrance to the station which had flooded in a deluge.
There was also flash flooding in regional Victoria, with the wettest November day on record for Murrayville in the Mallee, where 82 millimetres of rain fell in an hour.
The severe thunderstorm warning is in place for Central, Northern Country, North Central, North East, the Mallee, South West, West, South Gippsland and Wimmera forecast districts, the BoM says.
People in fire affected areas were warned to be alert for potential landslides and debris across roads, with rainfall run-off likely to contain soil, ash, trees and rocks.
Storms from the same weather system hit hard across parts of South Australia, cutting power to hundreds of homes and causing flash flooding.
