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Winter has arrived with a blast of icy temperatures across large swaths of the country.
Biting cold, frost and even a dumping of snow has been forecast as many woke to single-digit and negative temperatures across the country.
Even the Sunshine State hasn't been immune to the turn in weather, with Stanthorpe in Queensland's south forecast for frost and a minimum of 3C as early as Thursday.
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Cooma Airport in NSW recorded a chilly -6.3C on Sunday morning, according to Weatherzone, while Liawenee in Tasmania recorded -5.7C, its coldest morning recorded this early in the year since 2016.
Perisher Valley also recorded its coldest morning since 2022 of -3.6C, with the minimum temperatures expected to remain in the minus all week, including a -7C on Thursday. Skiers are set for a week of snow that is forecast to continue into the weekend.
Horsham in Victoria recorded -2.4C and Renmark in South Australia -2.2C, its coldest morning in eight years.
Low dew point temperatures across the southeast will bring an icy end to the weekend.
Cold weather is creeping across large parts of Australia this week.
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'A low dew point means the air is very dry, which allows temperatures to fall more quickly overnight since there's less moisture to absorb and hold onto heat energy,' Weatherzone said.
'Dry air combined with clear skies and light winds under a high-pressure cell provided the perfect conditions for strong radiative cooling — ideal for widespread frost and cold air pooling in valleys and low-lying areas.'
Plummeting temperatures will make for a cold King's Birthday long weekend as all states, except Queensland and Western Australia, observe the June 9 holiday.
'There is a bit of a colder spell coming,' meteorologist Angus Hines said.
'A front will cross Tasmania today, then move through Victoria early tomorrow and parts of South Australia as well, and then through the later parts of Tuesday.'
'Wednesday, it will go through New South Wales and even get to southern Queensland before it sort of peters out and fades away off the map.
Hines said while the front will not be bringing large amounts of rainfall, it is 'heralding in some chillier conditions', which are going to slide up the eastern states over the next few days.
'It's going to lead to some reasonably chilly nights and it really looks like Wednesday overnight into Thursday and then Thursday overnight into Friday will probably be the two of the coolest nights,' he said.
'Southern Queensland, New South Wales, Victoria, Tas and South Australia also all getting a bit of a taste of that, and it's likely to be fairly frosty across many areas.'
Hines said snow was probable for Tasmania later today from around 600m, with NSW and Victoria possibly seeing snow in the ranges from about 900m
Wild weather for southwest WA
Wild weather is forecast for Western Australia's southwest corner, as heavy rains and storms are predicted to smash the region from Monday afternoon.
Over 110mm of rain is predicted from Monday to Wednesday in the Perth area, while over 160mm over three days is predicted in Bunbury.
'There's a big low pressure area away from the country, and it's slinging a band of storms towards Western Australia at the moment,' Hines said.
'Heavy rain and damaging wind with severe storms in that southwestern corner of Australia looks to be the main risk.
The band is set to reach the WA coast on Monday afternoon and will 'kick off what's going to be a bit of a wet and stormy few days'.
Thunderstorms, some severe, are possible as far north as Geraldton to the states far southwest.
