Birdsville is experiencing one of its biggest floods in decades after the Diamantina River rose by nearly four metres in 24 hours, causing major flooding on Tuesday.

Floodwater has been spreading across southwest Queensland in the last few weeks following multiple bouts of heavy rain in March and early April. These outback floods have been so large that some major river systems have become clearly visible on images captured by satellites sitting 36,000 km above the ground.

One such swollen waterway is the Diamantina River, which runs from western Queensland into SA, passing by Birdsville as its water flows towards Kati Thanda–Lake Eyre.

The Diamantina River level at Birdsville has risen considerably over the past couple of days as the river’s main flood peak passes by the town. On Sunday afternoon, the river level at Birdsville was only 2.25 metres but by 9am Monday it had risen to 4.8 metres. On Tuesday, the river had reached 8.5 metres by 9am and 8.65 metres shortly after 3pm. The river level at Birdsville has risen by more than 6 metres in the last two days and close to 4 metres in the last 24 hours.

Image: River levels in the Diamantina River at Birdsville, QLD over the past week. Source: Bureau of Meteorology.

Tuesday’s river level of 8.65 metres makes it one of Birdsville’s largest flood peaks in recent decades, but not as large as the 1974 flood that peaked above 9.4 metres.

With such a large flood passing through Birdsville, parts of the town and surrounding areas – including roads and the Birdsville Racecourse – have been covered by floodwater. You can find out which roads have been closed by visiting the QLD Traffic website.

Incredible photos just in from OBE Organic®️ Director Anthony Brook of floodwaters from the Diamantina River at Birdsville. #OBEOrganic®️ pic.twitter.com/NoxTbtbgy9

— OBE Organic Australian Beef (@OBEOrganic) April 8, 2025

Flooding will continue across parts of central Australia for the coming weeks to months, with much of this water expected to eventually terminate in Kati Thanda–Lake Eyre before evaporating back into the atmosphere.