The storm cell, which brought winds of up to 96km/h, hit Sydney with over 5000 lightning strikes, one of which struck a man while he was on board a yacht in Church Point in Sydney's north. He was taken to hospital in stable condition.

Several homes have also been battered by the storm including one at Huntleys Cove which was set alight when struck by lightning. The residents, a woman and her two daughters, escaped the blaze.

The lightning strikes and wind damage sparked power outages all along the coast, with Ausgrid reporting at 5pm that 7000 homes and businesses lost their power across Sydney, Hunter and Central Coast regions. At 7:45pm Ausgrid announced crews had restored power to 5200 of these buildings.

The power company also tweeted evidence of the damage caused in the Hunter region.

Lightning strikes also disrupted Sydney's transport network. Lightning damage to equipment at Granville Station halted trains between Granville and Cabramatta on the T2 Inner West and South Line, where replacement buses are now running, as well as causing significant delays on the T1 North Shore and Western Line.

One bystander, Simon Moy, captured footage of lightning striking in Birkenhead Point, igniting a momentary blaze that betrays its potential for damage.

Airlines have experienced delays due to safety concerns, with Qantas warning of delays of up to two hours at Sydney Airport and one Qantas Link flight forced to abandon its landing.

The lightning storm follows a day of high humidity and temperatures which reached highs of 37 degrees Celsius in Sydney's west. A southerly change is expected to arrive this evening, bringing a cool change.

The storm has now passed over Sydney and is sweeping north across Maitland, Tamworth and Coffs Harbour. Storms will also affect the ACT. The SES recommends residents in warning areas unplug electronics, park their cars under shelter and avoid flooded areas and fallen power lines. The Bureau of Meteorology has issued a warning for strong winds across Byron Bay, Cofffs Coast and Macquarie Coast on Tuesday.