Two individuals found themselves in need of a helicopter rescue after being trapped by escalating floodwaters near Townsville.

In the pre-dawn hours, the CQ Rescue helicopter was dispatched to hoist them to safety. This was just one of the regions that experienced substantial rainfall overnight, courtesy of an intensifying monsoon trough.

The situation is compounded by the strengthening of the trough and the remnants of what was once Tropical Cyclone Koji, which are contributing to the deteriorating weather conditions.

Significant overnight rainfall was recorded, with 92 millimeters falling at Whites Hill near Townsville. Hamilton Island saw 89mm, and Mirani near Mackay reported 88mm.

The Bureau of Meteorology (BoM) has issued warnings for potentially more heavy rainfall throughout the weekend, particularly posing a threat to areas north of Mount Isa.

The BoM is also saying there could be some significant falls between Cairns and Mackay as well with some thunderstorms.

There’s also set to be thunderstorms in the south-east over this weekend, and the weather bureau is warning they could potentially be severe.

Major flood warnings are still in place overnight for parts of the state.

Also more wet weather forecast for NSW and Victoria, which have also seen heavy falls already this week and flash flooding.

“The low over the South Coast is relatively slow-moving, so the southern half of the NSW coastline can expect the heaviest rain and showers,” Weatherzone said.

Sydney’s set for its soggiest weekend of summer so far, with Weatherzone forecasting around 20mm of rainfall possible on both Saturday and Sunday.

And that rain’s likely to persist along the NSW South Coast for much of the coming week they say.