A massive cold front that slammed Tasmania and Victoria with dangerous winds and rain is heading for NSW, bringing damaging wind gusts of up to 120km/h.

A series of destructive cold fronts have slammed the nation’s south-east, including Tasmania, where thousands of homes lost power and some residents prepared to evacuate amid rising flood waters.

In Victoria, there were watch and act messages on Monday morning for the north-east ranges and the south-west coast.

In Moama, on the NSW-Victoria border, a woman has died after a tree fell on a cabin overnight.

Emergency crews found the body of the 63-year-old woman inside the cabin about 3.50am on Monday. A man, also 63, was treated by paramedics for injuries

AusNet and CitiPower and Powercor are reporting about 100,000 customers are without power, after wind gusts of up to 146km/h in Victoria. Outages could take days to restore.

The weather bureau on Sunday likened the strength of the winds to a category two or three cyclone.

Victorian State Emergency Service spokeswoman Kate Turner said the damage was statewide, but Warragul, Morwell, Emerald, Hastings and Ballarat are among the worst-hit areas.

“For the most part we’ve seen lots and lots of trees on roads but also onto people’s houses and then a fair few roof tiles coming amiss as that wind has kicked in overnight,” she told ABC Radio Melbourne.

Turner said more calls were expected as people woke and discovered damage at their properties.

The wild weather was forecast to ease in Victoria and Tasmania on Monday as a massive cold front tracked eastwards to NSW, the Bureau of Meteorology said.

“It’s in the early hours of [Monday] that the winds about the east coast of NSW will really start to increase,” senior meteorologist Sarah Scully said on Sunday.

There is a severe weather warning for damaging winds from the Victorian border north to Newcastle and inland to the Snowy Mountains and ACT.

Wind gusts up to 120 km/h are possible until Monday afternoon.

“Winds of these strengths do have the potential to bring down both trees and branches that may cause property damage, also bring down power lines that could lead to power outages, and also loose objects may be blown around and cause further damage,” Scully said.

Tasmania was battered by severe weather at the weekend, with significant damage to trees, properties, power lines and infrastructure.

Tasmania SES’s Mick Lowe said the risk of flooding remained.

“Widespread rainfall of 35-45 millimetres was experienced over much of the west, increased rainfall of 30-44 millimetres reported about high ground in the north-east and falls over the Derwent and Huon catchments less than anticipated, but in the range of 10-25 millimetres,” he told the ABC.

King Island Airport was hit with winds reaching a whopping 157km/h, with Launceston Airport getting gusts of 130km/h.

There was a flood emergency warning for residents near the Derwent River, Meadowbank to Macquarie Plains and Styx River, Bushy Park to Macquarie Plains and surrounds.

The River Derwent below Meadowbank Dam was likely to exceed the major flood level of 7.3 metres overnight on Sunday and into Monday, the Bureau of Meteorology said late on Sunday.

Derwent Valley Mayor Michelle Dracoulis said flooding was expected to peak about 8am.

“We are expecting these flood levels to remain at height for a number of days here and we had a number of communities further out impacted – Westaway is now isolated, Midina is isolated and Miderna is not to have power at least this afternoon,” she said.

Dracoulis said the ongoing wild weather was one of her major concerns.

“That’s putting water up in the mountains, which is headed down. Then, of course the tide comes in, hits it from the other side coming in from Hobart end,” she said.

“[The] second thing worrying me is the fact that when some of the evacuation orders that went out last night, people weren’t keen to leave their homes. It is serious when someone doorknocks you and it may be the only opportunity you get to leave.

“[The] third issue is people going into the flood waters. We have seen some silly behaviour out here, which puts the lives of those participating in it at risk – and anyone that needs to go to fish them out. Please don’t go near flood waters, don’t play in them, swim in them or drive in them.”

Provider TasNetworks said there were more than 150 outages late on Sunday with about 10,000 customers without power.

-with AAP