Light rain also began to fall on day one of the cricket Test match between Australia and South Africa at the SCG, but play was not called off.

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And after days of glorious sunshine lavished the city, rain is expected to stay until the end of the week.

“It looks as though it will be fairly cool and showery over the next couple of days,” Woodhouse said. “We could still see a thunderstorm around during Thursday.”

Showers are likely in Sydney every day until Saturday, when they’re expected to give way for the weekend before returning early next week.

The rain comes after a year of record-breaking rainfall in the state, driven by a combination of climate drivers, including La Nina, the negative Indian Ocean Dipole (IOD) and the Southern Annular Mode (SAM).

The Bureau of Metrology said on Wednesday that the country was still in La Nina, but it was weakening.

Indicators in the Pacific “have warmed slightly compared to two weeks ago and are easing away from La Nina thresholds”, it said.

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