Warrnambool State Emergency Service volunteers work to repair damage at nine properties

Wind gusts in Warrnambool peaked at 87 kilometres per hour at 7am. At 8.08 am the Bureau of Meteorology recorded wind gusts of 80 km/h in the city and at 8.30am they had slowed slightly to 72 km/h.

Warrnambool State Emergency Service unit controller Giorgio Palmeri said crews were kept busy with nine callouts between 6am and 8.30am Wednesday.

"There were lots of trees down over roads, building damage and garage doors being blown in and hanging by one side," Mr Palmeri said.

He said crews attended addresses in Allansford, Grassmere, Wangoom, Dennington and in Warrnambool's Liebig Street and at an industrial property in Walsh Road.

He said crews were expecting to be called out overnight and into the morning given the predicted weather conditions.

"We just have to wait," he said. "It happens during the night and people realise in the morning when they wake up and try to drive and there's trees over the road. That's what usually happens," Mr Palmeri said.

He said the wind gusts became strong in Warrnambool Tuesday evening and expected high and consistent winds to continue for another 24 hours into Thursday afternoon.

Mr Palmeri advised people to remain indoors if possible and avoid travelling unless it was necessary.

"Try to stay away from trees and park cars well away from trees," he said. "Secure items in the garden, as always trampolines can be a common issue.

"Be safe on the roads because trees can come down at any time. Avoid driving if possible and if you can't avoid it be careful," he said.

Warrnambool's winds were accompanied by steady rain throughout the night with 18.2 millimeters recorded in Warrnambool in the past 24 hours, up to 8.30am.

The city's overnight temperatures remained between 10 and 11 degrees. At 8.30am the temperature was 11.2 degrees.

Port Fairy experienced high winds at 6am with speeds of 50 km/h and gusts of 72km/h.

It reached its peak this morning at 9.30am with wind gusts of 78km/h.

Port Fairy's temperature hovered around 12 degrees overnight and was sitting at 12.6 degrees at 10.30am.

Port Fairy SES unit controller Steve McDowell was surprised its volunteers had not received any callouts.

"We had a tree down yesterday at 4.30am but we've had nothing overnight or so far this morning, Mr McDowell said.

"It's very surprising. I was expecting something overnight or this morning once people started moving around but we've not yet had a call. A lot of the other units have but there's nothing in our patch."

"We've got the strong winds and heavy rains so we'll be keeping an eye on all the rivers and drains in the area but at this stage I don't think we've had enough rain to cause problems in that space. Touch wood, it continues," Mr McDowell said.

Portland SES controller Charlie Debono said crews had attended two jobs to remove fallen trees from the road on Wednesday morning.

It was a similar story for the Heywood SES unit which was also called out twice to remove trees blocking roads. One was on Mount Clay Road and another on the Ettrick-Condah Road.

Heywood SES deputy controller Graeme Prescott said often the weather went around Heywood.

"It's a bit unusual for us," Mr Prescott said. "Normally the winds hit Bolwarrah and go up and they don't really land here. Dartmoor, Portland and Hamilton get hammered badly and we don't get much, but today we got to within two or three hours of each other," he said.

A weather warning remains in place for damaging southerly winds, stating the region would average 50 to 60 km/h winds. The warning was last updated at 4.37am Wednesday.

Peak gusts of 90 to 100 km/h are possible about the coastal fringe and about elevated areas in the west early Wednesday morning.

Winds are then expected to tend south-easterly and extend over central and eastern parts of the state during the day.

Port Fairy's Griffiths Island was again closed on Wednesday morning due to dangerous weather conditions.

It had re-opened on Tuesday following weeks of work to clean-up and repair earlier storm damage, as well as scheduled improvements to the southern causeway.

Residents are advised to avoid Griffiths Island area until further notice.

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