Australia

Refugee workers in Australia are blaming government policies for the latest boat people tragedy.

It's believed up to 50 asylum-seekers died after their wooden fishing boat smashed against jagged rocks on Christmas Island, off the north-west coast of Australia.

Queensland is bracing for another wet week but downpours won't be as heavy and widespread, minimising flood risks, forecasters say.

Emergency services are still mopping up in towns across central Queensland following weekend floods.

This week Melbourne and parts of Victoria have been hit by severe thunderstorms, some causing flash flooding.

This raw video, captured by YouTube user Mezut360 shows flash flooding after a thunderstorm on a main road in Melbourne stranding motorists.

The Bureau of Meteorology has issued a severe thunderstorm warning for the Melbourne area.

The bureau says severe thunderstorms have been detected on the radar east of Kilmore and near Whittlesea, north of Melbourne.

The weather bureau says there could be damaging winds, flash flooding and large hailstones.

Another Qantas jet has been involved in a mid-air scare - this time after being struck by lightning.

The 717 regional plane landed for inspections soon after take-off on Tuesday on its way from Alice Springs to Darwin.

Qantas said there were no engine issues and it was "just protocol" to carry out inspections after the lightning strike.

A massive thunderstorm pounded much of Sydney last night with hail,and torrential rain city wide says or Australian based reporter Claire Martin.

Ms Martin, who lives in Sydney, says the hail was "crazy" and expected some damage by day break today.

At 11pm NZT last night thunderstorms stretched from several hundred kilometres south east of Sydney to around one thousand kilometres north west towards Alice Springs.

The Melbourne Cup is here with the big race at about 5pm NZT.

The forecast for Melbourne isn't too flash either.  After one of the wettest Octobers on record the forecast for Melbourne today is for a mostly cloudy day with a few showers developing during the morning and a cool south west change arriving by afternoon.

Storms have dumped tonnes of water on to southeast Queensland in the last three days, flooding low-lying areas and causing homes to be evacuated.

Twenty Brisbane residences were evacuated, power lost to more than 20,000 homes and schools and roads closed as teeming rain and winds to 100km/hr swept across the southeast of the state, the Brisbane Courier-Mail reported.

Rain continues to threaten Mt Panorama this afternoon as The Supercheap Auto Bathurst 1000 continues.

See below for the latest detailed forecast and live rain radar updated every 6 minutes.

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The weather bureau says the rare cloud formation known as 'Morning Glory' could reappear again this week.

The spectacular cloud draws international visitors when it occurs at the end of each dry season in north-west Queensland's Gulf of Carpentaria.

It was seen for the first time this season in mid-September.