Widespread rain and thunderstorms will affect some of southern, central and eastern Australia towards the end of this week and early next week.

The interaction of a cold upper-level air mass and tropical moisture will cause rain and storms to spread across multiple states and territories during the second half of this week. Rain will start in southern districts of Western Australia on Wednesday, before spreading over southern and central Australia on Thursday and Friday. Rain and storms will then soak a broad area of eastern and southeastern Australia between Saturday and Monday.

Image: Forecast accumulated rain between today (Monday) and next Monday, according to the ECMWF-HRES model.

Rainfall totals during the coming week will be hit and miss, with some places missing out and other areas seeing heavy falls. Some of the heaviest falls will occur over outback areas of South Australia, NSW and Queensland, delivering welcome rain to areas that have suffered from years of drought. Unfortunately, most of the coming week's rain will miss areas of Western Australia that have seen significant rainfall deficiencies during the last six months.

Image: Rainfall deficiencies during the past six months. Source: Bureau of Meteorology.

In addition to the rain, we should also see severe thunderstorms in some areas, so be sure to check the latest warnings in your area. We will have more updates on this weather event as the week unfolds.