Entertainment

Check out these apocalyptic-looking pictures of the storm that hit Sydney

It looks like the end of the world is nigh.
It looks like the end of the world is nigh. It looks like the end of the world is nigh.

Sydney, Australia was hit by a dramatic storm on Tuesday, and pictures of the oncoming clouds looked like something from a disaster movie.

Unsuspecting Bondi Beach-dwellers were strolling along as the imposing cloud rolled in on the bay.

Imposing storm cloud approaches a beach where people are walking
Imposing storm cloud approaches a beach where people are walking The storm approaches Bondi Beach (@piquet_h/PA)

Another picture taken near Bondi shows the storm once it reached the shore.

From Manly, a beach suburb in Northern Sydney, the storm cloud resembled a crashing wave.

The storm comes in over northern Sydney (@lynshields/PA)
The storm comes in over northern Sydney (@lynshields/PA) The storm comes inover northern Sydney (@lynshields/PA)

Mark Leydon took the below photo of the storm as it came in over the east suburbs of Sydney looking particularly biblical.

This panoramic photo taken in Mascot, south-eastern Sydney, shows the scale of the storm.

The storm approaching Sydney from the south (@dannypovo/PA)
The storm approaching Sydney from the south (@dannypovo/PA) The storm approaching Sydney from the south (@dannypovo/PA)

As well as the formidable cloud, thousands of people in New South Wales were left without power as the storm brought down power lines.

And no wonder, as the power of the storm reminded us a little of The Day After Tomorrow.

The Day After Tomorrow Weather GIF - Find & Share on GIPHY

But what caused such distinctive clouds to appear?

According to the region’s Bureau of Meteorology, it was a shelf cloud, formed when air rises ahead of a thunderstorm’s “gust front”, the blast of cool air that rushes out at high speeds from a thunderstorm.

Winds moving as fast as 91kph (55mph) were measured at Sydney airport.

It is Australia though, so the weather was pretty much back to a balmy normal by the next day.