Thousands of homes are without power and ambulances are being diverted from a damaged hospital, as severe winds batter Tasmania.
Wind gusts of more than 100 kilometres per hour hit the state’s north on Friday morning, resulting in trees toppling across roads and damage to buildings.
The latest updates from the severe winds hitting Tasmania.
1h agoFri 10 Oct 2025 at 12:47am
TasNetworks warns some customers may be without power for days
TasNetworks says there are more than 40 separate outages around the state, with most in the north-west.
“That’s likely to rise as the storm moves east across Tasmania,” a spokesperson said.
Unfortunately, for some in more isolated parts of the state, there could be outages for more than three days, the spokesperson has warned.
“We currently expect customers affected by the most complex, isolated and inaccessible outages to be without power for at least 72 hours. Please prepare now for that scenario.
Our crews our extremely committed, but can only work in safe conditions – considering factors like wind, lightning, fatigue and available light. When conditions are not safe to start repairs, crews will make assets safe, and return once conditions improve.”
All planned works have been cancelled and 30 crews are available to respond to the outages, TasNetworks says. Contractors have also been brought in.
1h agoFri 10 Oct 2025 at 12:11am
BOM update warns of destructive winds for north-east
The weather bureau has released a new warning. The “vigorous cold front” is moving east over the state, bringing possibly “destructive” winds to the north-east. A ‘destructive’ wind gust above 125kph is a “small risk” around Scottsdale and Bridport.
A vigorous frontal system is moving east across Tasmania today resulting in widespread damaging winds, particularly with showers and thunderstorms, and some risk of localised destructive winds across the northeast of the state. Conditions are expected to gradually ease into this evening, but may persist about the northeast into early Saturday morning.
For Launceston and Hobart, the warning is for “damaging winds averaging 55 to 65kph”, with possible gusts up to 100kph.
The state’s top wind gust today was 154kph, recorded on Maatsuyker Island at 10:41am.
1h agoThu 9 Oct 2025 at 11:56pm
Tree clean-up on Devonport foreshore
A number of big trees have toppled in Devonport.
Devonport foreshore (Supplied: Bella Murphy)
Devonport foreshore (Supplied: Bella Murphy)
2h agoThu 9 Oct 2025 at 11:52pm
Spirit of Tasmania does a loop while coming in to Devonport
Passersby noticed the Spirit of Tasmania ferry was taking a turn at sea while coming into to Devonport. It’s unclear whether it was weather related or about timing coming into the port.
The seas are looking a little churned up in the state’s north at the moment. Here was the ferry coming in not that long ago.
Spirit of Tasmania ferry arrives at Devonport (Supplied)
Spirit of Tasmania ferry arrives at Devonport (Supplied)
2h agoThu 9 Oct 2025 at 11:45pm
All City of Launceston Parks and Reserves are closed today
Amid the wild winds and threat of falling tree branches, Launceston City has closed its parks and reserves for today.
Posting on social media, the city’s official account said:
Due to the Bureau of Meteorology’s Severe Weather Warning for damaging and potentially destructive winds across the Central North region, all City of Launceston-managed parks and reserves will be closed today, Friday October 10 2025, to ensure public safety.
In these weather conditions, strong winds may cause falling trees and branches, posing significant risks to the public.
Some parks will be closed with gates, while others will have signage in place.
Please avoid these areas and respect all closures.
2h agoThu 9 Oct 2025 at 11:42pm
Derwent Ferries in Hobart are suspended
At least for this afternoon.
Derwent Ferries has posted to Facebook:
Due to the forecasted damaging winds persisting into the evening the Derwent Ferries service has been temporarily suspended for this afternoon of October 10. We apologise for any inconvenience.
2h agoThu 9 Oct 2025 at 11:40pm
Tasmania Zoo closed today
Just posted by Tasmania Zoo on Facebook:
CLOSED Due to the severe weather impacting the State today we have decided to close the zoo for the safety of all.
Sorry for any inconvenience caused.
We will reopen tomorrow-Saturday 11th
2h agoThu 9 Oct 2025 at 11:29pm
18,538 TasNetworks customers without power in Tasmania
TasNetworks is reporting that almost 20,000 homes and businesses are without power in the state.
A large part of those outages are in the Wynyard and Burnie region in the state’s north-west — including 2,457 customers without power in East Cam, Park Grove, Shorewell Park, Somerset and Wynyard.
For those without power, unfortunately TasNetworks give an estimated restoration time of “Too be confirmed – long delays”.
Burnie, Devonport and Wynyard were among the most impacted towns, while the strongest gust of 154kph was recorded at Maatsuyker Island, according to the Bureau of Meteorology.
A severe weather warning for damaging winds has been issued for the entire state, as the bureau warns of a “vigorous cold front” moving east.
A unsecured trampoline narrowly avoided hitting a parked car and ended up in a neighbour’s yard in Burnie. (Supplied: Woohyang Sung)
There is a small risk of destructive wind gusts above 125kph at Scottsdale and Bridport in the state’s north-east this afternoon, according to the bureau.
Some outages could last three days, TasNetworks warns
According to TasNetworks, more than 18,000 homes were without power at 9:30am on Friday due to the severe weather.
The outages are largely in the state’s north, including at Burnie and Wynyard, although the power is also out for some homes around Richmond and Bothwell, in the state’s south.
TasNetworks says there were nearly 50 outages across the state just after 10am. (Supplied: TasNetworks)
A spokesperson said crews were working hard to restore power for households, with more than 40 separate outages reported across the state.
They warned that some outages could last for more than three days.
“We currently expect customers affected by the most complex, isolated and inaccessible outages to be without power for at least 72 hours,” the spokesperson said.
TasNetworks is warning people to stay away from downed powerlines. (Facebook: TasNetworks)
“Our crews are extremely committed, but can only work in safe conditions — considering factors like wind, lightning, fatigue and available light.
“When conditions are not safe to start repairs, crews will make assets safe, and return once conditions improve.”
TasNetworks said all planned maintenance works had been cancelled and 30 crews were available to respond to the outages.
More than 18,000 homes across Tasmania were without power at 9:30am. (Facebook: TasNetworks)
Storm and weather information:View current Tasmanian weather warnings on the BOM website or at ABC EmergencyMonitor state-wide alerts on TasAlerts websiteCheck on power outages on the TasNetworks websiteIn an emergency, contact police, fire and ambulance on triple-zero (000)If you’re isolated by floodwater, contact the SES on 132 500Hospital issues internal emergency alert
Emergency services are responding to multiple incidents across the state’s north, including multiple tree falls, snapped power poles near Legana and a collapsed wall in Burnie.
A power pole in Legana snapped in half due to the severe weather overnight. (Facebook: TasNetworks)
The Mersey Community Hospital at Latrobe, near Devonport, has issued an internal emergency alert after it sustained damage in the early hours of Friday due to the severe weather.
The Department of Health’s Dale Webster said the damage resulted in water leaking into the hospital, meaning some clinics have had to be relocated.
The Mersey Community Hospital in Latrobe suffered water leakage due to the weather. (ABC News: Hayden Smith)
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He said clinical services were being managed but capacity had been impacted, with people asked to avoid the hospital unless they are in an emergency.
Ambulances are being told to bypass the hospital and instead take patients to hospitals in Burnie and Launceston.
The road to the summit of Mount Wellington, near Hobart, was closed on Friday morning after a large tree collapsed overnight.
Part of a brick wall from the third storey of a Burnie building fell onto the footpath and street below. A crew worked to make the area safe and put road diversions in place.
A large tree came down on Pinnacle Road on Mount Wellington, near Hobart, due to the wild weather. (Facebook: City of Hobart)
A large branch collapsed off a tree in Havenview, near Burnie, and damaged the front of a vehicle.
Police have warned motorists to drive to the conditions and take care as the weather front crosses the state.
A tree branch collapsed onto a vehicle in Havenview, smashing through the front left headlight. (Supplied: Katie Poole)
Winds of more than 100kph were recorded in Devonport on Friday morning. (Supplied: Mick Roney)
Derwent Ferries, which runs a service between the Hobart CBD and Bellerive, announced it had temporarily suspended its service due to damaging winds just after 10am.
According to the airport’s website, all Qantas flights scheduled for Devonport Airport on Friday have been cancelled due to weather in Devonport.
A large toppled tree being cut up and removed from the area in Devonport. (Supplied: Bella Murphy)
As of 9am on Friday, one Qantas flight from Melbourne to Launceston had also been cancelled.
Tasmanians urged to make preparations for damaging wind gusts
The Bureau of Meteorology has forecast peak gusts of 110kph in the north-east and 100kph at Hobart and Launceston this afternoon.
Conditions were expected to ease across most parts of the state in the late afternoon, although the bureau has warned the wild weather could persist in the north-east until Saturday morning.
Some of the strongest winds across the state on Friday morning were at Maatsuyker Island and Scotts Peak, which recorded gusts of 154kph and 139kph respectively.
Minor flood warnings are in place for multiple waterways, including the River Derwent, the Meander River, the Huon River and the North Esk River.