Newcastle weather warning: Strong, damaging winds expected for Hunter as small hailstone falls hit Cessnock

The Singleton Fire and Rescue NSW crew were called to John Street about 5.15pm, finding the female driver pinned by a large tree.

Firefighters said she suffered a sore shoulder and cuts in the incident.

Emergency crews used a chainsaw to whittle away the tree and free the woman.

She was taken to hospital for treatment.

Separately, a Bureau of Meteorology warning remains in place for gale-force winds along the region's coast as a deep low pressure system over the Tasman Sea pushes air west over the state.

Meteorologists warn of average wind speeds of 60km/h to 70km/h about higher ground and through the Hunter, with conditions expected to ease in some areas later today.

"Saturated soils bring an increased risk of gusty winds toppling trees and power lines, particularly along elevated terrain," the Bureau of Meteorology said in its warning.

SES crews continued working across the region - responding to calls of roof damage and tree branches down.

Several properties in the Adam Avenue and Benjamin Circuit area at Rutherford required attention, with the persisting strong winds creating a challenging environment for SES crews to use tarps to cover holes where roof tiles had been blown off.

There were also reports of large branches down on carports and other structures at Bolwarra.

TUESDAY MORNING: Ausgrid is working to restore power to thousands of properties across the Hunter, as wild weather continues to sweep through the region.

As of 7am on Monday, 1780 premises remained without electricity at West Wallsend, while more than 1600 were in the same situation in the Wallsend-Elermore Vale area.

There were outages at 1584 properties in the Raymond Terrace area, 1334 at Medowie, and 1318 at Toronto.

Neath, Sawyers Gully, Nulkaba, Whitebridge and Pokolbin were also among the places with outage numbers reaching beyond 100.

Ausgrid said power had been restored at Bellbird, Cessnock, Mount View, Belmont North, Croudace Bay, Eleebana, Barnsley, Boolaroo and Edgeworth.

The State Emergency Service responded to almost 300 call-outs across the Hunter region overnight, including 45 at Newcastle, 43 at Cessnock, 38 at Lake Macquarie, 37 at Maitland at 30 at Muswellbrook.

SES spokesperson Mandy Haigh said crews responded to a mix of jobs from tree branches coming down, roof damage and "the odd trampoline that had gone astray".

"[The weather] hit so suddenly and the wind was so strong," she said.

Mayfield resident Brad Emerton watched on Tuesday morning as SES crews remove almost half the tree from his front nature strip which had fallen onto the roof of his Myola Street home.

Mr Emerton told the Newcastle Herald the weather was so wild on Monday night that he did not hear the crash - his partner told him a tree had fallen on their house when she arrived home from work.

"I was at the back door and it was that wild - it was crazy," he said.

"I was had stuff blowing around out the back so I was just trying to sort that out. Didn't hear anything, [the wind] was so loud.

"We were hoping to get rid of this tree but I'm just glad it didn't land on the new fence."

Across the road, Freya Pinneykonetschnik said she was up getting a midnight snack when she heard a crash outside - the corrugated iron roof of the shed next door had torn off and had landed on the roof of her house.

MONDAY NIIGHT: State Emergency Service crews from across the region responded to dozens of callouts after strong winds, in excess of 120 kilometres per hour in some areas of the valley, brought down trees and wrought havoc in storm damage Monday evening.

Units based around Lake Macquarie had responded to more than 30 callouts before 8pm, with more coming in, as all units in the Newcastle and Port Stephens command area were tasked to clearing downed trees and clean-up operations at Maitland, Muswellbrook, Raymond Terrace and Port Stephens, and the Newcastle suburbs.

Newcastle-Port Stephens SES local commander Brian Carr believed areas around Muswellbrook had borne the brunt of the weather, adding all four units under is purview had been called to assist residents and local councils deal with the damage. Local teams were responding to around 13 calls for assistance at Maitland and around 15 more in Newcastle, he said.

In the city, Newcastle police and emergency services were responding to several reports of trees and powerlines brought down across the suburbs, including in parts of Hamilton where a large fallen tree had forced the closure of Gordon Avenue between Everton and Denison streets.

Forecasters for the Bureau of Meteorology said gusts of up to 52 knots, or around 100 kilometres per hour, were recorded at Nobbys, with similar recordings at Williamtown RAAF Base, Tocal and Scone, and gusts of up to 69 knots at the Murrurundi Gap observation station in the Hunter Valley.

Cessnock was pelted with a fall of small hailstones, meanwhile, as a wind change brought band of weather eastward across the state, preceding a strong pressure gradient forecasters said was likely to bring further strong and potentially damaging winds to the region on Tuesday.

Snowfall on the Barrington Tops was likely, forecasters said, as a cold snap over the weekend was expected to keep maximum temperatures in the single-digits there for much of the week ahead.

Police are warning people to keep safety in mind amid the possible snow and strong winds predicted for the area in the coming days.

Access to the Barringtons is closed from Gloucester due to an unstable section of road, which was damaged during heavy rain early last year.

Police may close roads at any time to ensure visitor safety.

"While access to the Barrington Tops from Scone is currently available, the unsealed road section is steep, narrow and winding, and ice and snow can make driving here extremely dangerous, even for 4WDs," Chief Inspector Guy Guiana said earlier Monday.

The Bureau has issued a severe weather warning for much of the state, including parts of the Hunter, for winds in excess of 90 kilometres per hour, which could uproot trees and powerlines from saturated soil after past weeks of regular rain.

The State Emergency Service has advised residents secure outdoor household items and move vehicles under cover and away from trees. Residents have also been urged to avoid fallen powerlines and objects that may be energised, like electric fences.

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