Sydney, Melbourne, Perth, Brisbane, Adelaide weather: Wild surf alert and heatwave threat

Australia will experience dreary weather and unusually high temperatures this week, while wild surf conditions will hit some of the country’s best beaches.

Showers and cloudy conditions are forecast for all major cities in Australia on Monday.

A low-intensity heatwave is forecast to affect parts of western Western Australia and northern South Australia, as well as isolated areas over the Cape York Peninsula, south-west Queensland and southern Northern Territory.

Sydney

Sydney will have a windy start to the week, with large parts of the New South Wales coastline under a dangerous surf warning.

Clouds over the city will partly clear on Monday as winds decrease from a peak of 35 km/h to 25 km/h in the early afternoon.

The rest of the week in Sydney is also expected to be grey, with partly cloudy conditions through Saturday.

Surfers have been warned of dangerous conditions on the Byron Coast, Coffs Coast, Macquarie Coast, Hunter Coast, Sydney Coast, Illawarra Coast, Batemans Coast and Eden Coast on Monday and Tuesday.

Weather Zone meteorologist Felix Levesque explained that a low pressure system in the Southern Ocean, south of Tasmania, will enter the Tasman Sea and increase wave activity in NSW and south-east Queensland.

‘The real energy behind this powerful low will build rapidly over NSW from late Monday morning and reach south-east Queensland early Tuesday morning.

‘An extended period of 14 to 16 seconds is expected for much of New South Wales, potentially extending to 15 to 18 seconds further north at the height of this swell.

‘Coastlines directly exposed to this energy will be treacherous as enormous amounts of water and energy flow into the coastline.’

Mr Levesque warned that wave heights could reach up to 3.5 metres, with ‘sudden, very large waves and strong water currents’ creating dangerous conditions.

“The large swell will gradually diminish on Tuesday, but swell height should still be around 2 meters on Wednesday, with the wave period slowly decreasing to around 12-14 seconds by mid-week,” he said.

‘Beach conditions will be misleading until Wednesday or Thursday as the apparently calm seas will be interrupted intermittently by large and powerful waves.’

Melbourne

Partly cloudy skies will clear over Melbourne on Tuesday as the city’s high temperature rises to 32°C from 21°C on Monday.

Wednesday also looks warm with a high of 30 degrees, after which the temperature will cool slightly to a maximum of 25 degrees on Thursday.

Severe fire conditions have eased in Victoria, with only one western region, Bayindeen, still under an advisory warning.

“There may still be localized fire activity and smoke,” Vic Emergency said.

‘Aircraft continue to support firefighters in patrolling and blacking out hotspots, further consolidating the edge of the fireline.

“There will still be heavy machinery and fire engines operating in the burned landscape.”

Brisbane

A high chance of showers is expected in Brisbane late Monday morning, with a chance of thunderstorms.

Drizzly conditions are also forecast for Tuesday, after which it will partly clear on Wednesday.

Temperatures in the city are expected to remain high until the end of the week, with highs around 30 degrees Celsius and highs of 20 degrees Celsius.

Flood warnings remain in effect for several areas in Queensland following last month’s rainfall.

The Bureau has issued moderate flood warnings for the Diamantina River and Eyre Creek.

Minor flood warnings remain in force for the Georgina, Flinders, Norman and Gilbert rivers.

Strong sea breezes are expected to hit the Gold Coast on Monday, and the Capricornia and K’gari Coasts on Tuesday.

Perth

Perth has an average chance of light showers in the morning with winds up to 35km/h before easing to 25km/h in the evening.

Skies over the city will clear on Tuesday and Wednesday as high temperatures reach the low 30s Celsius.

Strong wind warnings were issued for Perth Local Waters, Ningaloo Coast, Gascoyne Coast, Geraldton Coast, Lancelin Coast and Perth Coast on Monday.

Meanwhile, flood warnings have been issued for several desert areas in the east of the state.

The Bureau warned that isolated flooding could be possible in the Salt Lake, Nullabor District Rivers and Sandy Desert from Tuesday.

“Heavy rain with showers and thunderstorms is forecast in the Flood Watch area from Monday,” it said.

‘Significant rises in rivers, creeks and streams are likely during heavy rainfall, with flooding and overland flooding possible in parts of the Flood Watch area.

‘Many roads, and possibly primary and secondary highways, could be affected. Some communities and farms may become isolated.”

Adelaide

Adelaide’s forecast for Monday is mainly sunny, with winds up to 35km/h in the afternoon.

High temperatures in Adelaide are expected to remain around 30 degrees Celsius throughout the weekend, with an expected high of 37 degrees on Saturday.

Tuesday looks sunny before partly cloudy conditions move over the city on Wednesday and persist for the rest of the week.

Meanwhile, moderate flooding is occurring along the Diamantina River and filling of the Goyder Lagoon, in the northeast of the state.

“Floods may cut off roads and access routes, especially river crossings, impacting traffic in the region,” the Bureau said.

‘Floodwaters are expected to reach the Warburton River, downstream of Goyder Lagoon, in the coming weeks.’

Hobart

Cloud cover over Hobart on Monday will partly clear on Tuesday, with only some cloud cover expected to remain until the end of the week.

A strong wind warning was issued for Storm Bay, Upper East Coast, Lower East Coast, South East Coast and South West Coast on Monday.

Canberra

Partly cloudy skies over Canberra are forecast to clear for a sunny Tuesday and mostly sunny Wednesday.

High temperatures in the city are expected to remain between the high 20s and low 30s until the end of the week.

The coldest temperature in the city is forecast for Tuesday, with a low of just 9 degrees Celsius.

Darwin

Darwin is still in the middle of the wet season.

Showers with the possibility of thunderstorms are forecast until the end of the week, with highs around 30 degrees Celsius.

A flood warning has been issued for the Tanami Desert, Western Barkly and central desert areas.

“Northerly to north-easterly winds brought showers, heavy rainfall and gales to the Northern Territory over the weekend,” the Bureau said.

‘The Flood Watch area is largely unmeasured, but total rainfall of up to 100mm is expected to have fallen in the 24 hours to 9am on Sunday.

‘Many roads, and possibly primary and secondary highways, could be affected. Some communities and farms may become isolated.”