Wild Sydney weather leaves cars abandoned in floodwaters as 22 people rescued by the SES

Wild weather lashes Sydney as SES responds 880 calls for assistance

Wild weather has left a trail of destruction across Sydney's west and inner west, with flash flooding swamping streets, forcing people to abandon cars.

Intense rainfall drenched Sydney and the Central Coast yesterday with more than 100 millimetres in some areas.

Acting NSW State Emergency Service (SES) commander, Allison Flaxman, told the ABC the severe storms caused extensive damage in the metropolitan area in the past two days.

"We have had over 880 requests to support the community, and we have actually had to perform 22 flood rescues for people who have driven into floodwaters," she said.

One of the flood rescues occurred at a childcare centre at Tempe in Sydney's inner west.

Slow moving storm cells smashed the east coast yesterday, and more wet weather is expected over the next few days. 

Cars were left submerged in Sydney's inner west. (ABC News)

The inside of a flooded Sydney bus. (Supplied: NSW SES)

The Bureau of Meteorology (BOM) said Sydney had seen the peak of its rainfall. 

"Wet conditions are likely to continue throughout the week, but hopefully not as wild as what we have seen [yesterday] in the Sydney and Central Coast region," meteorologist Jiwon Park said.

"Our forecast is 10 to 20 millimetres in general across Sydney but with thunderstorms this figure could easily double to 30 or 40 or even 50 millimetres in isolated locations." 

The NSW SES have been busy cleaning up flood damage across Sydney. (Supplied: NSW SES)

Floodwaters inundated the Parramatta ferry jetty on Tuesday. (AAP: Dean Lewins)

The SES urged motorists to avoid flooded roads, after extensive flash flooding yesterday saw cars abandoned in floodwaters across areas from Sydney to the Central Coast.

Videos of the Parramatta River Wharf on Charles Street yesterday showed the ferry stop being inundated with water.

Parts of Marrickville, Wolli Creek and Arncliffe also saw flooding on roads and at train stations.

Marrickville in Sydney's inner west was smashed by heavy rain yesterday. (Twitter: Albert Martinez)

In Wolli Creek, floodwaters were deep enough to submerge more than half a car.

"If you're driving on the roads, please obviously drive to those conditions," Ms Flaxman said. 

"If you do come across the flooded road, please stop — turn around and find an alternative route."

The SES will be monitoring river systems, as there is a potential for flash-flooding given the heavy rainfall over the past 24 hours.

A flood warning remains in place for residents of the Wyong and Tuggerah Lake area.

Severe weather warnings for heavy rainfall are currently in place for the Illawarra and the Northern Rivers districts.