After what has been an extremely dry period during Australia’s worst bushfire season, areas of Victoria and New South Wales have experienced severe thunderstorms, hail and dust that are not expected to subside any time soon.

Dramatic images captured over the weekend from western New South Wales show a massive wall of dust rolling through outback towns. Locals reported being cast into darkness in the middle of the day.

Overwhelming amounts of dust swept across Central West of NSW on Sunday, with social media users sharing images of brown clouds across a dark sky in Dubbo, Parkes and surrounding areas.

On Monday the Bureau of Meteorology confirmed that “severe weather warnings” remain in place for much of central and eastern Victoria, with “damaging winds, large hail and burst of heavy rainfall” expected to spread to New South Wales for a downpour lasting at least three more days.