Wild weather tears up Australia's east coast

A large fig tree is seen toppled over at the beer
garden of the Normanby Hotel in Brisbane on
Saturday as damaging winds hit eastern Australia.

Wild weather wreaked havoc across large parts of eastern Australia on Saturday as emergency authorities warned people in coastal areas to pay close attention to warnings.

The Bureau of Meteorology warned that “a large and complex weather system and developing east coast low” would have a “potentially serious” impact on parts of Queensland, New South Wales, Victoria and Tasmania over the weekend and early next week.

On Saturday three people died on NSW and Queensland roads, and cars were swept away in Queensland by floodwaters as wild weather lashed the state.

In Sydney, forecast damaging winds and king tides forced the cancellation of Vivid light installations across the city.

Read The Guardian story - “Wild weather wreaks havoc on Australia's east coast.”