Perth thunderstorm diverts flights and leaves thousands of homes ...

Severe thunderstorms across much of the State have caused chaos with flights diverted and thousands of homes without power.

The Bureau of Meteorology said an upper trough combined with the hot and humid air had produced storms that could cause damaging winds in parts of the Goldfields-Midlands, Perth Metropolitan, and Great Southern.

Perth, Rottnest Island, Scarborough, York, Corrigin, and Pingelly were among the places in the severe weather warning area.

BOM warned significant winds could continue for several hours throughout the night. Perth faced winds of up to 57km/h while Kalamunda hit winds of up to 70km/h just before 9pm.

Camera IconResidents across Perth took to social media to share pictures of the chaos unfolding outside. Credit: Michelle Branigan - Perth Weather Live

The wild weather has affected flights with multiple planes having to divert to more regional airports.

A plane coming from Brisbane, QF939, was among the flights impacted as it was forced to land in Kalgoorlie instead of Perth airport.

Over 6000 homes across the Greater Perth area were also without power due to the storms which included Mount Lawley, Karrinyup, Scarborough, Northbridge and Highgate. Many weren’t expected to get electricity back until 1.30am.

The stormy weather comes as Perth is expected to swelter through a heatwave this weekend.

Perth peaked at 36.5C on Friday and temperatures on Saturday and Sunday are expected to climb to 41C and 36C, respectively.

Ms Lingard said both heatwaves had been caused by an “atmospheric traffic jam” which forced a trough to hover over the WA coast.

“When the trough sits on the coast we get bombarded with these hot dry northerly winds, which bring down all the hot air from the Pilbara and Gascoyne regions, all the way ... into the southwest of the state,” she said.