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Victorians are being warned to brace for one of the worst weather events of the year, equivalent to a category three cyclone.
Wild winds were forecast to lash the state on Sunday night, with the SES urging people to avoid travel and work from home on Monday.
Damaging gusts brought down trees and fences late on Sunday afternoon across the state and high tides and surf warnings forced the closure of some piers.
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But the Bureau of Meteorology predicted it would get much worse on Sunday night.
"It really doesn't get more significant than this when it comes to severe weather," SES Chief Officer Tim Wiebusch said.
Power outages were likely, officials warned.
"To see something this strong is a little unusual, something you see every three to five years," weather bureau senior meteorologist Michael Efron said.
A powerful cold front is moving through and forecasters say it's the equivalent of a category 3 cyclone.
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The SES said those in high-risk areas should stay with friends or family and others should work from home on Monday.
The severe weather warning for damaging and locally destructive winds was issued for the southern and alpine parts of Victoria.
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Gusts of up to 130km/h were expected around the south-eastern Melbourne suburbs, including Aspendale.
The strong winds were expected to hit Geelong first about 1am, then Melbourne between 2am and 4am.
The Bellarine and Mornington peninsulas and Wilsons Promontory were put on high alert.
It was predicted to be just as damaging as the storms that ravaged Melbourne's bayside areas in October 2021.
In that event, dozens of homes were destroyed and the SES received 10,000 callouts.
In the past six days, 600 homes have been damaged and 35,000 left without power.
An elderly man was killed when a tree fell on his car while driving through Gellibrand.
And on Saturday a 24-year-old man drowned in rough water off Rye pier.
Thousnads were left without power in Tasmania, with severe weather uprooting frees and causing flooding.
