A chilly winter blast will sweep across Australia this week as winds from the Antarctic, snow and several bands of rain wreak havoc.
A cold change is heading towards Australia from south-east from Tasmania, and will move into NSW in the coming days.
On the other side of the country, Perth will receive its heaviest rainfall this year as a slow-moving low pressure system brings totals potentially exceeding 85mm over Tuesday and Wednesday.
The extreme conditions in the first week of winter comes after Australia enjoyed its fourth warmest autumn on record.
The south-western regions of Western Australia will a cop a soaking after a relatively dry start to 2025 with below-average rainfall in its capital.
Bureau of Meteorology senior meteorologist Angus Hines told Daily Mail Australia thunderstorms presented the main threat to south-western WA.
‘(We’ve just) had the first band of what will probably be a few different bands of showers and storms between now and Wednesday,’ he said.
‘Parts of western WA will see a good few storms out over the water, which are headed towards Perth over the next few hours.
‘Then that’s going to become quite a common pattern between now and Wednesday.
Perth is forecast to cop its highest rainfall this year as several rain bands approach WA
Perth is set to receive its heaviest rainfall this year with more than 85mm expected in the coming days
‘They’ll likely see bands of showers embedded with a few storms, and then in between those bands, it’ll probably brighten up again and the sun will come out, and then another band will roll through.’
There is a chance that thunderstorms could develop into severe thunderstorms with damaging wind gusts or extra heavy rainfall which could produce flooding in coastal areas.
‘That risk is there for well the next few hours, as this first band goes through that it come back on Tuesday with another another spell of showers and storms,’ Mr Hines said.
West Australians will see the system start to weaken by Thursday.
‘There might be a few lighter showers lingering, but the venom will have been sucked out of this weather system,’ he said.
Some bands of rain may reach as far north as the Pilbara, bringing unseasonal showers to the area, but in a diminished capacity.
Elsewhere across Australia, a cold change is making its way towards the south-east mainland.
‘(That) has been slowly crossing Tasmania and on Tuesday morning, that’ll move across Victoria and about the southern half of South Australia,’ Mr Hines said.
‘Then on Tuesday night and into Wednesday, that’ll move up through through NSW.’
Light rainfall was expected across many regions of Australia, but is expected to ease in the ease over the week
A cold change is heading towards Australia south-east from Tasmania , which will move into NSW later this week
The cold front will likely bring rain and a little snow to the higher peaks of Tasmania.
‘As the slightly cooler air kicks in on Tuesday, we could certainly see some snow falling across both the Tasmanian mountains and then eventually, a little bit later on tomorrow, Victoria and southern NSW mountains,’ Mr Hines said.
The chance of rain will ease over the week, however, the frosty air is expected to stick around for several days, with plummeting overnight temperatures expected.
Meteorologists expect rainfall totals to be minor, in good news for the rain-battered regions of the NSW north coast, which are only now starting to recover from the damage of the recent flooding.
‘Sometimes fronts can bring really vigorous and punchy sort of rain and storms and big accumulations of snow,’ Mr Hines said.
‘But this one is only bringing pretty minor rainfall totals really. There will be a bit of rain with it today and tomorrow as it moves northwards, but certainly nothing significant and not likely to be heavy rain or flooding.’
‘So it’s just going to be the snow and the cold air will be more of the notable effects of this front.’
The cold ‘pool’ is expected to hang over south-east NSW and Victoria, which could mean at least two days of snow for the alpine regions over the June long weekend.
The cold systems will, however, drop snow atop the southeastern alpine regions in Tasmania, Victoria, the ACT and New South Wales
Western Australia’s south-west will a cop a soaking this week after a dry start to 2025
Snow can be expected at lower levels as the coldest air of the front arrives, about 900m on the mainland and 600m of elevation in Tasmania.
The bureau issued a warning to graziers in areas of the NSW Snowy Mountains on Tuesday, warning the chilly conditions could cause the loss of lambs.
Marine wind warnings are also in place for much of the NSW coastline.
A second cold front will approach south-eastern Australia closer to the weekend.
That system is expected to bring snow to the highest areas of the Australian Alps on Saturday, just in time for the long weekend.
Cold air systems are expected to dispense snow to Australia’s highest regions, including the Snowy Mountains (above)
Another, more significant mass of cold air will hit the same regions on Sunday into Monday.
Sydney
Tuesday: The chance of morning fog in the outer west. Mostly sunny day. Slight chance of a shower at night. Min 11. Max 20.
Wednesday: Partly cloudy. High chance of showers along the coastal fringe, medium chance elsewhere. Min 11. Max 16.
Thursday: Mostly sunny. Slight chance of a shower along the coastal fringe in the morning. Near zero chance of rain elsewhere. Min 8. Max 17.
Friday: Partly cloudy. Light winds. Min 8. Max 17.
Saturday: Partly cloudy. Slight chance of a shower. Min 9. Max 19.
Melbourne
Tuesday: Cloudy. Very high chance of showers, most likely in the morning. Min 10. Max 14.
Wednesday: Cloudy. Medium chance of showers in the northwest suburbs, slight chance elsewhere. Min 8. Max 14.
Thursday: Partly cloudy. Slight chance of a morning and early afternoon shower. Areas of morning frost in the northeast suburbs. Min 6. Max 15.
Friday: Cloudy. High chance of showers, most likely in the afternoon and evening. Min 7. Max 14.
Saturday: Partly cloudy. Very high chance of showers. Min 8. Max 15.
Maximum temperatures in Melbourne are unlikely to exceed 15C until past Saturday
Hobart
Tuesday: Partly cloudy. Medium chance of showers, most likely in the early morning. Min 5. Max 12.
Wednesday: Cloudy. Slight chance of a shower. Min 4. Max 12.
Thursday: Cloudy. Slight chance of a shower. Min 6. Max 13.
Friday: Cloudy. Medium chance of showers, most likely in the afternoon and evening. Light winds. Min 4. Max 14.
Saturday: Cloudy. High chance of showers. Min 8. Max 14.
Adelaide
Tuesday: Partly cloudy. High chance of showers, most likely in the morning. Min 10. Max 17.
Wednesday: Sunny. The chance of morning frost about the northern suburbs. Min 4. Max 16.
Thursday: Cloudy. Medium chance of showers, most likely in the afternoon and evening. Min 5. Max 18.
Friday: Cloudy. Very high chance of showers, most likely in the afternoon and evening. Min 9. Max 18.
Saturday: Cloudy. Very high chance of showers. Min 9. Max 17.
Perth will see heavy rainfall and likely thunderstorms until conditions ease around Friday
Perth
Tuesday: Cloudy. Very high chance of showers. A thunderstorm likely. Min 13. Max 21.
Wednesday: Cloudy. Very high chance of showers. A thunderstorm likely. Min 13. Max 20.
Thursday: Partly cloudy. High chance of showers, most likely in the morning. The chance of a thunderstorm near the coast. Min 12. Max 20.
Friday: Partly cloudy. Light winds. Min 8. Max 19.
Saturday: Sunny. Light winds. Min 6. Max 20.
Darwin
Tuesday: Mostly sunny. Min 21. Max 31.
Wednesday: Mostly sunny. Light winds. Min 22. Max 32.
Thursday: Mostly sunny. Light winds. Min 22. Max 31.
Friday: Partly cloudy. Light winds. Min 21. Max 32.
Saturday: Partly cloudy. Light winds. Min 21. Max 32.
Canberreans will brave minimum temperatures of -3C in the first week of winter
Brisbane
Tuesday: Medium chance of showers, most likely in the early morning. The chance of a thunderstorm in the south in the early morning. Mostly sunny day. Min 15. Max 25.
Wednesday: Mostly sunny. Slight chance of an afternoon shower. Min 14. Max 23.
Thursday: Sunny. Light winds. Min 11. Max 22.
Friday: Mostly sunny. Light winds. Min 11. Max 23.
Saturday: Partly cloudy. Slight chance of a shower. Light winds. Min 12. Max 24.
Canberra
Tuesday: Mostly sunny. The chance of morning fog. Slight chance of a shower in the late afternoon and evening. Min 1. Max 17.
Wednesday: Slight chance of a shower in the early morning. Sunny afternoon. Min 2. Max 12.
Thursday: Sunny. Areas of morning frost. Light winds. Min -3. Max 13.
Friday: Cloudy. Areas of morning frost. Min -3. Max 13.
Saturday: Partly cloudy. Medium chance of showers. Min 1. Max 12.
