Melbourne was officially the coldest major city on the planet this morning as temperatures plunged close to zero degrees in the city’s outer suburbs overnight.
The freezing cold snap struck Victoria overnight, with Alpine regions slipping to -4 degrees and Melbourne’s CBD shivering through a low of 3 degrees.
Biting winds made temperatures of -1.9C in Mt Buller feel more like -8.7C, according to the Bureau of Meteorology.
Icy temperatures struck much of Victoria overnight with the Alpine region dropping to -4C
Melbourne was officially the coldest major city in the world this morning as those in the heart of the city shivered through a frosty low of 3C
As Melbourne shivered through the morning, much of the New South Wales coast was drenched by a large downpour
Rainfall is expected to drench the NSW coast (pictured) until about Thursday when it clears up
While it was 4C in Melbourne at 8am it was 13C in Alaska, 8C in Iceland, 17C in Peru, 14C in Ireland, 14C in Norway and 17C in Paris.
The numbing weather blasted the rest of Australia’s east coast too, with Sydney suffering a huge downpour of rain and Adelaide plunging to a chilling 7C.
As Melbourne shivered through the morning, much of the New South Wales coast was drenched by a large downpour.
Across the southern ranges, parts of the state including Thredbo dropped to -4C overnight as strong winds and heavy rain battered the coast.
‘There were pretty chilly temperatures over the southern ranges and other elevated peaks,’ Bureau of Meteorology (BoM) meteorologist Rose Barr told Daily Mail Australia.
‘It was more rainy along the coast …. the current forecast for the Sydney region is between 8 and 25mml.
‘We could see more isolated locations with heavier showers along the coast will see a little more rainfall, more than Richmond or Penrith.’
Across the southern ranges, parts of the state including Thredbo dropped to -4C overnight as strong winds and heavy rain battered the coast
While it feels freezing, the wet conditions are expected (pictured) remain until late in the week
Melbourne and Adelaide were the coldest major cities in the world Tuesday morning (pictured)
While it feels freezing, the conditions are not colder than usual and are expected to warm up later in the week at 18C Wednesday and 17C Thursday.
Ms Barr said Sydney could expect a ‘slight warming trend in maximum temperatures’ but not before waking up to ‘fairly chilling temperatures’ Wednesday and Thursday where rain is expected to continue.
Further north, parts of Queensland woke to 3.1C with the cold weather setting in for the rest of the week.
The cold blast comes after the Snowy Mountains, NSW, received 60cm of snow in 24 hours with more expected through the week.
About 10-20cm of snow covered Thredbo and Charlotte Pass at the weekend when the 2018 ski season officially began.
The cold blast comes after the Snowy Mountains, NSW, received 60cm of snow in 24 hours with more wet weather expected (pictured) through the week