An Australian state known for its year-round sunny weather was hit by sub-zero temperatures after a record-breaking cold spell swept across the region.
Temperatures dropped across Queensland, with the minimum temperature at Brisbane Airport reaching 6.3 degrees Celsius on Monday night.
Tropical areas were also hit by the cold snap. In Townsville in the north, temperatures hit 8.6 degrees Celsius, while Maroochydore on the Sunshine Coast only reached 3.7 degrees Celsius.
Residents in the Sunshine State’s southern interior suffered chills from subfreezing temperatures.
Oakey, near Toowoomba, saw the state’s coldest morning since May last year, with temperatures dropping to a low of -4.4 degrees Celsius at 6.30am.
Temperatures at more than 80 Bureau of Meteorology (BOM) sites were lower than Melbourne, which is often cold and cloudy in winter.
Chief meteorologist Harry Clark told Daily Mail Australia that a dry air mass in the state is to blame for the cold weather.
Temperatures plummeted in Queensland, with a minimum temperature at Brisbane Airport on Monday night of just 6.3 degrees Celsius (stock image)
Monday morning in Melbourne was warmer than many parts of Queensland
“That heat can in principle be radiated out into the atmosphere quite efficiently, so it has been quite cold over much of Queensland over the last few nights,” Mr Clark explained.
He added that temperatures in Melbourne are slightly higher due to cloud cover, which makes for more humid conditions.
In the capital of Victoria, a minimum temperature of 9.9 degrees Celsius was measured, which is more than three degrees warmer than Brisbane airport.
Mr Clark said the weather in Queensland will warm up from Thursday with above average temperatures expected towards the end of the working week.
‘[It will be] “Tomorrow will be another cold morning, especially in the central and southern parts of the country. Frost is also expected inland,” he said.
Temperatures in Brisbane are expected to remain below 10 degrees Celsius on Tuesday and Wednesday, before reaching 13 degrees Celsius on Thursday.
The minimum temperature in Townsville will rise to 10 degrees Celsius on Tuesday, before warming to a minimum of 14 degrees Celsius on Wednesday.
Mr Clark explained that a cold spell is not unusual for this time of year, but added that the freezing temperatures have also broken several weather records.
‘Winton [in Central Queensland] “On Saturday morning, the temperature dropped to 0.6 degrees Celsius. That was the coldest temperature we have recorded there in 22 years,” he said.
Elsewhere, Clark said a cold front will move across southern parts of Australia’s east coast.
It will be very windy in Melbourne on Wednesday, with showers expected on Thursday and part of the weekend.
Elsewhere in Australia, Sydney will see a cold start to the day on Tuesday and Wednesday, before temperatures rise on Wednesday.
A few showers are expected in the port city on Friday, with mostly clear skies expected over the weekend.
Parts of south-east Queensland woke up to cold temperatures for the second morning in a row on Tuesday
Brisbane
Tuesday: Sunny. Chance of morning frost in the west. Light wind.
Wednesday: Partly cloudy. Chance of morning mist in the west. Light wind.
Sydney
Tuesday: Sunny. Light wind.
Wednesday: Sunny. Chance of morning mist in the far west. Chance of morning frost in the far west. Light wind.
Melbourne
Tuesday: Mostly sunny. Wind from the north 25 to 35 km/h, increasing in the evening to 25 to 40 km/h.
Wednesday: Partly cloudy. Wind from the north 35 to 50 km/h.
Melbourne will experience very windy conditions over the next two days with gusts of up to 50km/h (stock image)
Hobart
Tuesday: Partly cloudy. Small chance of a shower, probably in the morning. Wind northwest 15 to 25 km/h, shifting to north 15 to 20 km/h in the late evening.
Wednesday: Mostly sunny. Wind from the north 15 to 25 km/h.
Adelaide
Tuesday: Mostly sunny. Wind from the north 15 to 25 km/h.
Wednesday: Mostly sunny morning. Average chance of showers, probably at night. Wind north 25 to 35 km/h, tending to northwest 25 to 30 km/h in the late evening.
ACTION
Tuesday: Frost spots and chance of fog in the morning. Mostly sunny in the afternoon. Light wind that becomes northwesterly in the early afternoon at 15 to 20 km/h and weak in the late afternoon.
Wednesday: Mostly sunny. Spots of frost and chance of fog in the morning. Light wind that becomes northwesterly 15 to 25 km/h in the middle of the day and light in the evening.
Perth
Tuesday: Cloudy. Very high chance of showers, probably in the morning and early afternoon. Chance of thunderstorms in the morning and early afternoon, possibly heavy. Wind from the northwest 20 to 30 km/h, shifting to the south 15 to 25 km/h early in the morning.
Wednesday: Mostly sunny morning. High chance of showers, probably in the afternoon and evening. Light wind.
Darwin
Tuesday: Sunny. Winds east to southeast 15 to 25 km/h tending to east to northeast 15 to 20 km/h in the early afternoon and tending to northwest to northeast in the late afternoon.
Wednesday: Mostly sunny. Light wind that becomes north to northeast 15 to 20 km/h in the early afternoon and then becomes light in the late afternoon.
A high chance of showers is expected in Perth on Tuesday and Wednesday, with wind gusts of 25km/h on Tuesday.