IT has been a gloomy few days for the Tweed and Gold Coast, but South Tweed Primary School students didn't shy away from a splash in the

puddles yesterday.

The Bureau of Meteorology has announced the rain should begin to clear today despite the hopes of kindergarten student Traelon Freer that “more rain will make the puddle get bigger and bigger and bigger and bigger”.

Bureau forecaster John Gardner said dangerous surf conditions plaguing the Gold Coast would last until tonight and light showers would continue along the coast until Friday.

“There may still be some problems along the coast until Thursday, but then they should grad-

ually ease,” he said.

“We have a quite intense high off New Zealand with another little bud near the New South Wales coast, and we have a trough in the Tasman and Coral seas as well, so the combination of those two things is producing the strong winds along the coast.”

The Bureau of Meteorology issued a gale warning for the coast from Double Island Point on the Sunshine Coast down to Point Danger on the NSW border and further strong wind warnings south to Port Macquarie, with 40-knot winds and three-metre swells expected.

All Gold Coast beaches have been closed because of dangerous surf, with tourists and locals being warned to stay away from the shoreline until the wild conditions ease.