South-east Australia, get ready for the coldest weather in 15 years

South-eastern Australia, get those heaters, blankets, and warm socks ready, because a cold snap is heading your way! The Bureau of Meteorology says that it will be largest outbreak of cold weather in 15 years.

Victoria, NSW and Tasmania are about to experience cold fronts as Antarctic air bursts north, with night temperatures in some areas set to drop to around 0 degrees Celsius.

Where there’s cold there’s snow, and the winter sports playgrounds are about to receive a dump of snow, with conditions set to be the best for the ski season. Victoria’s Dandenong Ranges will see some snowfall, as will stretches of the Great Dividing Range, even as far north as the Queensland border.

Canberra is also a strong chance for snow. The Bureau of Meteorology’s Sean Carson said it would fall on the Brindabella Mountains and north towards Yass, and perhaps on the capital itself.

“There certainly is some chance of snow in the Canberra suburbs and if that was to occur Sunday morning is the most likely,” he said.

“We’ll most certainly get snow down to very low levels at the surrounding hills. Saturday night into Sunday that snowline will drop down to 600 metres at least on the western side of the great dividing ranges”.

“There’s about a 20 to 30 per cent chance of seeing snow in Canberra”.

Bureau of Meteorology NSW regional director Barry Hanstrum says the first cold front will begin to hit on Friday, followed by a second cold snap late Saturday.

The cold front will also bring with it some rain, again hitting much of Victoria, NSW and Tasmania. While we might not like the wet, cold weather, there is some good news. The rain will also fall in drought-affected areas of northern and western Victoria, and inland NSW, the happiest of news for those that have done it tough on the land.

How cold is it getting where you are? Have you any ‘keep warm’ tips to share? And let us know if you have some receive any drought-relieving rain.