Heavy rains and storms lash Sydney, WA coast

Sydney copped a month's worth of rain in a day. (Joel Carrett/AAP PHOTOS)

Sydney has been inundated with more than a month's rain in less than a day while storms along Australia's west coast have sparked hundreds of emergency calls.

Persistent, moderate-to-heavy rain on Saturday drenched Sydney with 143mm of rain, topping the city's June average of 132mm on the first day of winter, according to the Bureau of Meteorology.

Rose Bay recorded more than 170mm.

"A lot of our eastern suburbs of Sydney saw a month's worth of rain in just 12-to-18 hours," senior meteorologist Dean Narramore said.

The rain was largely localised to eastern Sydney, with western suburbs of Penrith and Richmond receiving between 20mm and 30mm, while falls in the Hunter region ranged between 25mm and 50mm.

WA's southwest coast was battered, with roofs ripped off and trees crashing onto homes and cars. (Joel Carrett/AAP PHOTOS)

Showers are expected to continue in the Hunter on Sunday, but was expected to clear by Sunday night.

A hazardous surf warning remains in place for Sydney Coast, Illawarra Coast, Batemans Coast and Eden Coast.

In southwest coastal WA, emergency services received more than 200 calls for help since 10am on Saturday after roofs were ripped off and trees fell on homes and cars.

Wind gusts of more than 100km/h were recorded in North Island and Rottnest Island, while Wilyabrup, in Busselton, recorded almost 30mm of rain in 30 minutes.

An evacuation centre has been set up at South West Sports Centre in Bunbury, and take action warnings are in place for South West, South Coastal and Lower West districts,  particularly Albany, Bunbury, Busselton, Mandurah, Margaret River and Walpole.

 "A gusty west to southwesterly airstream is expected to persist about the coastal strip south of Mandurah and the South West and South Coastal districts into this evening," Emergency WA said in a statement.

Dangerous winds are expected to ease in most districts by mid-morning on Sunday, but, damaging wind gusts along the coastal strip south of Mandurah and in the southwest and south coastal districts could persist into the evening.

"This weather is not unusual for this time of year, but could damage homes and make travel dangerous," Emergency WA said.