Lightning and storm clouds hit the Sydney skyline
Lightning and storm clouds hit the Sydney skyline
A woman has died after she was struck by lightning during freak storms in NSW over the weekend.

The 61-year-old died in a Sydney hospital this morning, five days after she was struck in the Southern Highlands, NSW Police told AAP.

The woman and her two sisters were hit as they sat together on a Bowral park bench on Saturday.

The other sisters, also aged in their 60s, were reportedly treated for shock.

Emergency services were out in force over the weekend as a huge storm rocked much of NSW, with "giant" hailstones damaging cars and homes and wild winds.

Five fast-moving south-easterly storm cells brought destructive winds, hailstones and heavy rain from Gosford to Wollongong.


After lashing Sydney's western suburbs and the southern highlands, the storms headed towards the northern beaches and the Hunter to dump more hail.

A SES spokeswoman said hundreds of volunteers scrambled to respond to 630 calls thunderstorm-related requests for assistance in the early evening.

"It was for things like damage to roofs from hail, skylights, trees down and leaking roofs," she said.

The worst affected area was Sydney's hills district, particularly around Rouse Hill and Kellyville, which received 270 requests for assistance.