Two people have been taken to hospital after being struck by lightning while visiting a popular scenic site in the NSW Blue Mountains.

Other visitors were forced to seek shelter from a major storm while rescue crews searched walking tracks in the area looking for stranded bushwalkers.

“A major storm has caused chaos in the Blue Mountains today, with two people taken to hospital after being struck by lightning at Echo Point,” Blue Mountains City Council said on Wednesday.

Council staff from the Echo Point Visitor Information Centre called emergency services immediately.

The pair were taken to Katoomba Hospital by ambulance.

Blue Mountains Mayor Mark Greenhill praised staff for their “quick thinking”.

“Our thoughts are with the two people struck by lightning and their families during this time,” he said.

“Given previous major rain events have caused landslides and trees to come down, we are asking residents and visitors to take extreme care when outdoors and in parks and natural areas.”

Severe thunderstorms lashed the Blue Mountains near the Jamison Valley and Katoomba on Wednesday afternoon.

The wild weather was expected to continue into Thursday across large parts of south-east and southern NSW, including the Blue Mountains, the Bureau of Meteorology said.

Heavy rain, large hail and damaging wind are predicted.

Australia’s east coast continues to cop a battering from wild weather, with thunderstorms passing through central Victoria on Wednesday before moving east.

-AAP