Heavy rain and severe thunderstorms will spread over a large area of eastern and southeastern Australia this week, adding more water to already flooded rivers in several states.

The map below shows what’s in store for Australia this week. Rain, and lots of it, over a number of states and territories.

Image: Forecast accumulated rain this week, according to the ECMWF-HRES model.

The red shading on the map above shows areas of Australia that are expected to see more than 80 mm of rain this week. The purple blobs could see more than 100 mm, while the blue shading near the QLD-NSW border is where this forecast model anticipates more than 200 mm of rain over the next seven days.

The maps below give an idea of where and how much rain is expected to fall each day this week.

Image: Forecast daily rainfall during the next 7 days, according to the ECMWF-HRES model.

Early this week, the focus of the heaviest rain and thunderstorm activity will be over SA, the NT and western Qld. Rain and storms should then start to spread further east from Wednesday, affecting Qld, NSW, the ACT, Vic and Tas throughout the second half of the week.

This week’s rain will be widespread and involve intense thunderstorm activity on numerous days. Thunderstorms will be particularly dangerous over Qld and NSW between Wednesday and Friday when daily severe storm activity is likely in both states.

Unfortunately, this week’s rain and thunderstorms will impact areas of Vic, Tas and NSW that are currently being affected by flooding from recent rain. In some areas, this week’s wet weather will cause renewed river level rises and hamper clean-up operations.

Flood warnings, flood watches, severe weather warnings and severe thunderstorm warnings are likely to be issued in multiple states this week. Be sure to check the latest warnings in your state or territory regularly.