MELBOURNE - Two men drowned after being swept into the ocean in southeast Melbourne amid severe winds that hit the Australian state of Victoria on Wednesday.

Police on Thursday said one of the two men was a British national who was surfing in extreme conditions, and the other was his friend who tried to rescue him.

Victoria Police said in a statement that emergency services were called to reports of two men in trouble in the water at Frankston Beach, 38 km southeast of central Melbourne, on Wednesday afternoon.

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The two men were located unresponsive in the water by a police helicopter and winched back to shore, but could not be revived.

Australia's Bureau of Meteorology on Wednesday morning issued a severe weather warning for destructive winds for almost the entirety of Victoria. Maximum wind speeds exceeded 120 km per hour in the state's southwest and 90 km per hour in Melbourne.

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The State Emergency Service said on Thursday that it responded to more than 1,400 requests for help on Wednesday, the majority of which related to trees that had fallen across roads and properties.