Twin blankets of cloud are expected to smother much of Australia this week, bringing rain – and possibly floods and thunderstorms – to every state and territory.

Weatherzone.com.au predicts a wet week across the country caused by a phenomenon known as cloudbands.

North-west cloudbands typically stretch from the far north-west of Australia towards the south-east corner.

They are caused by moisture-laden air from the Indian Ocean and usually produce widespread rain over Australia between autumn and spring.

This week, two vast blankets of airborne moisture are expected.

“Two north-west cloudbands will pass over Australia as streams of Indian Ocean moisture move south and interact with a series of cut-off upper-level lows passing over the nation’s southern states,” Weatherzone wrote on Tuesday.

Over the next seven days, the two “pulses” of airborne moisture will spread across Australia.

“Rain will fall over much of every state and territory this week, with some places also likely to see thunderstorms,” Weatherzone said.

“Pockets of heavy rain will produce areas of flooding, both with and independent of thunderstorms.”

There were already flood warnings for Queensland and NSW on Tuesday.

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