Is the storm in a tea cup version standard Brit?

Woo hoo - it looks like no one else actually answered this bit so here's my take on it.

I don't know about Brit, but it is definitely standard Oz English to say it this way... in fact, I don't think I'd ever heard Tempest in a tea cup before now. It definitely sounds more melodramatic than a storm in same tea cup.

Hev