Wild winds, a huge ‘rain bomb’ and dumps of snow are forecast to linger for the next week across the country as Australians prepare for a freezing start to winter.
Many shivered through the morning as they woke to temperatures of -7C in parts of New South Wales and -5.6C in Victoria on a particularly icy first day of the season.
While torrential downpour and strong gale force winds are expected to hit parts of NSW over the coming week, snow is expected to fall in the state’s alpine regions.
Wild winds, huge rain bombs and downpours of snow will be dumped across the country as Australians prepare for a freezing start to winter (Melbourne pictured)
Many shivered through the morning as they woke to temperatures of -7C in parts of New South Wales and -5.6C in Victoria (pictured) proving the chilly season had made it’s mark
Bureau of Meterology meteorologist Rose Barr told Daily Mail Australia it was ‘a little cooler than usual’ in western parts of NSW with rain showers widely expected
Coastal showers are expected across NSW (pictured) along with showers in East Gippsland region of Victoria
Bureau of Meterology meteorologist Rose Barr told Daily Mail Australia it was ‘a little cooler than usual’ in western parts of the state with rain showers widely expected.
‘Showers are largely coastal, a few stations on the eastern side of Great Dividing Range saw one millimetre but more significant falls are confined to the coast,’ Ms Barr said Friday.
The meteorologist confirmed that a wet weekend was expected, with showers set to continue across Friday through to Sunday.
The heavy rainfall is expected to set in until it begins to ease up towards the end of next week.
There have been a number of wind warnings issued for NSW across Mid North Coast, Hunter and Metropolitan and Illawarra regions.
‘Beach conditions in these areas could be dangerous and people should stay well away from the surf and surf exposed areas,’ a statement read.
The meteorologist confirmed that a wet weekend was is expected with showers set to continue across Friday through to Sunday along the NSW coast (Bondi Beach pictured)
The meteorologist confirmed ‘significant falls’ would hit the coast (pictured) while the rest of NSW would remain fairly dry
‘Abnormally high tides may cause sea water flooding of low lying areas along central parts of the coast during high tide tonight (Friday).’
The conditions could create the highest tide for the year by 0.5 metres with authorities reminding people not to ‘drive, ride or walk through flood water’.
Parts of the Northern Ranges woke to a freezing low of -7C while further south, many in Victoria shivered through lows of -5.6C at Mt Hotham and -4.7C at the Snowy Mountains in the Alpine regions.
‘In Melbourne we had a minimum temperature of 4.1C which was the coldest morning since the 17th of September last year,’ BoM senior forecaster Michael Efron said.
The heavy rainfall is expected for NSW until it begins to ease up towards the end of next week
There have been a number of gale force wind warnings issued for NSW across Mid North Coast, Hunter and Metropolitan and Illawarra regions
‘Some of suburbs were down to 1C or 2C, it was certainly a cold start to winter.’
As Sydney braces for large rain dumps, Melbourne can expect fairly dry conditions right across the weekend.
‘Beside the cold start it’s a pretty good day,’ Mr Efron said.
‘There is shower activity far east of state, around East Gippsland, but the rest of the state is looking dry and sunny with light winds.’
Even the sunshine state felt the chill with parts of Queensland recording their coldest start to winter in more than a decade.
Areas in Darling Downs, west of Brisbane, recorded a low of -2.8C – making it the coldest June morning on record.
The crisp start to winter will not last long in Queensland with temperatures expected to hit sunny maximums of about 23C across the weekend.
As Sydney braces for large rain dumps, Melbourne (pictured) can expect fairly dry conditions right across the weekend after reaching lows of -5.6C on the first day of winter