Breaking News

One person was killed as winds of up to 130km/h caused mayhem across Victoria and South Australia.

The powerful winds cut power to more than 200,000 homes in Victoria and prompted warnings to people to get out of central Melbourne.

The wild weather cost the life of a woman killed when a brick wall collapsed in Mentone in Melbourne's south this afternoon.

An ambulance spokesman said the woman, 57, was walking in a laneway beside shops when the wall fell on her, burying her under rubble. She died at the scene.

WorkSafe and police are also investigating whether wind played a role in the the death of a rigger, killed when steel girders and scaffolding collapsed on a building site in Melbourne this morning.

The State Emergency Service (SES) in Victoria said it had responded to more than 2,200 calls by 6pm (AEDT) with hundreds of trees falling across roads and on houses, cars and powerlines.

The severe weather was caused by an intense cold front which crossed South Australia and Victoria behind strong northerly winds.

Roofs were blown off houses in Port Fairy and Edenhope in Victoria's west, while 10 people were taken to hospital following a three-car accident in a dust storm near Buangor, also in the west.

By 5pm (AEDT), power had been cut to around 200,000 households and businesses across western and central Victoria and in Melbourne, according to electricity suppliers.

Power supplies could be cut for more than 24 hours, a spokesman from energy distributor Alinta said.

Metropolitan Ambulance Service spokesman Paul Bentley said officers also treated people who had simply been blown off their feet.

Police appealed to commuters and visitors to leave central Melbourne as soon as possible during the afternoon in anticipation of peak-hour transport chaos.

"We are asking people who are in the city, who don't need to be here, think about moving out," a Victoria Police spokeswoman said.

"And for those who are here for some time, they need to think about planning alternate routes."

The strong winds forced the closure of Melbourne's West Gate Bridge to trucks, motorcycles and caravans for about three hours this afternoon.

By evening police had reopened the bridge to all traffic, but outside lanes remained closed and a 40km/h speed limit applied.

A ban on trucks and caravans remained on the Bolte Bridge until after 6pm, with a 40km/h speed limit in force.

Suburban trains were badly disrupted, with rail operator Connex advising of widespread cancellations on all lines because of damage from falling trees and debris.

"We are asking people to ... find alternative transport," said Connex spokesman John Rees.

SES spokeswoman Jilly Charlwood said the worst affected areas were the Melbourne suburbs of Northcote, Nunawading and Eltham.

"Almost all of the calls for assistance are for trees on houses or roof damage, like falling tiles," she said.

The winds forced Wednesday's race meeting at Sandown to be called off after two races and caused the closure of the Melbourne International Flower Show, which opened.

Powercor spokesman Damien Batey said the company was expecting the situation to worsen before getting better.

"The Bureau of Meteorology (BoM) are telling us that after these severe gusty winds there will be a storm front, rain, lightning and hail coming through later on."

Powercor also said at least one roof had been blown off a house and onto powerlines in Edenhope, near the Victoria-South Australia border.

BoM meteorologist Matt Pearce said wind gusts of up to 132km/h hit Colac near the state's west coast, while in Melbourne winds of 100km/h were reported.

The wind also whipped up dust storms from parched areas of Victoria's north-west, which reached Melbourne during the afternoon.

In South Australia, winds gusting to 137km/h were recorded at Cape Willoughby in the state's south-east.

About 10,000 homes were left without power as winds reached 90km/h in areas stretching from Goolwa, south of Adelaide, to Kapunda, north of Adelaide.

In Tasmania, winds damaged roofs around Hobart but the rest of the state escaped largely unscathed.

很誇張…真是很誇張….以下是由市民提供的照片….慶幸是我已經搬入市區住，不用再乘火車歸家….