West Aussies are being urged to prepare for flash flooding as severe thunderstorms are forecast to hit the South West of the State this evening.

The Bureau of Meteorology have issued a severe thunderstorm warning and have forecast that heavy rain will develop in the next several hours.

“A slow-moving trough is in place over the far southwest of WA embedded in a moist and unstable airmass ahead of a cold front moving towards the coast,” the alert stated.

“This is leading to the development of some slow moving thunderstorm clusters with a risk of heavy rainfall. Localised damaging winds will also be possible with isolated stronger storms near the coast north of Busselton.”

The main locations in WA that will be affected are likely to be Bunbury, Busselton, Collie, Dunsborough and Bridgetown.

The Department of Fire and Emergency Services advises that people who live in the areas where the storm is set to hit should take precautions to protect themselves from the potential impacts of the severe weather:

50 mm of rain was recorded in 2 hours to 5:30 pm at Vasse Highway near Busselton and 38 mm was recorded at Ravenscliffe the 60 minutes to 6:30 pm.

The weather warning is not in place for Perth metropolitan area but the forecast predicts a high chance of showers and the chance of a thunderstorm for the rest of the evening in Perth.

More information can be found at the Bureau of Meteorology’s website.