For grey nomads who have delayed – or abandoned – their plans to head up to the tropical north this year, now is about the time to start having serious misgivings about the decision.
Forecasters are tipping temperatures to plummet across the southeast of Australia and into the weekend as a cold front descends.
The freezing conditions in many parts are due to a southern blast of cold air, which has left the Bureau of Meteorology warning of frost conditions from Tasmania to Queensland’s Darling Downs.
The Courier Mail reports that Queensland is currently in the midst of its coldest morning of the year, with the temperature plunging to a freezing -2.7C on the Darling Downs, but it feels far colder at a brutal -7.2C.
It's been pretty chilly in many parts of the country. PIC: Wild0ne / Pixabay
Across South East Queensland, temperatures had plunged into single digits overnight, with Brisbane Airport dropping to 6.7C at 5.15am, while Amberley at 2.1C was the coldest place.
It comes after Sydney dipped to a monthly low of just 8.1C on Tuesday, rising to a maximum temperature of 17C on Thursday.
And news.com.au reports that, further south, temperatures were tipped to dip below 0 degrees across large swathes of northeast Victoria on Friday morning. Melbourne as expected to reach just 14C over Saturday and Sunday – with a low of 5C.
Canberra is predicted to see lows of -1C on Sunday morning, rising to just 13C over the weekend. Those conditions were expected to continue into next week, with Canberra forecast to see minimums as low as -3C until Tuesday.
Elsewhere, news.com.au says Hobart is forecast to dip as low as 6C over the weekend with a high chance of up to 7mm, specifically on Sunday afternoon. Adelaide is also forecast for a soaking, with a 100% chance of up to 8mm today.
And there is also a very high chance of rain in Perth tomorrow, with as much as 7mm on Sunday.
Weatherzone’s Anthony Sharwood told the Courier Mail that conditions were only going to get colder as two classic weather patterns impact Australia.
“With such cold air tracking north, and with the cloud and moisture staying well offshore, it’s no wonder that nights are currently very chilly in Queensland, especially in the southern inland,” he said.
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We’ve been camped on the Murray River near Swan Hill for the past 2 days.
Rained all day, top temperature 9 degrees.
Diesel heating working overtime.
Haven’t seen the Sun for ages.
It’s 10.8 on the south east coast of nsw. We’ve had a bit of heavy rain . Our caravan is nice and warm with the heater going