It's been a sodden start to the week in southwestern Australia, with the heaviest rain in two years and destructive winds affecting some areas.

A band of rain was crossing the southwest corner of WA on Monday ahead of an approaching cold front and low pressure system.

During the 24 hours to 9am on Monday, the heaviest rain had fallen in the far southwest of the state, where Margaret River picked up 70mm. Further south, Shannon's 29mm was it highest daily total since July 2016.

As the rainband edged furthern north, Perth collected 14mm of rain between 9am and 2pm on Monday and Garden Island picked up 32mm.

In addition to the rain, blustery winds also buffeted the state's southwest on Monday ahead of the approaching front. Cape Leeuwin registered a destructive wind gust of 130km/h shortly after 5am and Bickley clocked a gust 83km/h in the early afternoon.

The band of rain will spread further north and east during the next 24 hours. Heavy falls are likely near the west coast during Monday afternoon and evening, with a severe weather warning in place for heavy rain as of 2pm WST. Widespread falls of 5-10mm are likely across the Central Wheat Belt, Gascoyne, Goldfields and Eucla districts by Tuesday night.

A low pressure system behind the rain band will maintain showers, thunderstorms and blustery winds in the state's southwest during the next 24 hours. A severe weather warning has been issued for damaging winds in parts of the South West and South Coastal Districts.Visit http://www.weatherzone.com.au/warnings.jsp for the latest warnings.