Huge waves at Sydney beaches including Bondi, Coogee, Maroubra, Bronte, Tamarama

Severe weather and strong winds pounding Australia’s east coast have wreaked widespread havoc, with dozens of flights canceled and popular beaches closed as monster waves pounded the coast.

Cold and blustery southerly winds hit the NSW coast on Monday, with Sydney and surrounding regions in the firing line with gusts of 52mph.

A severe weather warning remains in effect for the Sydney and Illawarra regions, with damaging winds and warnings for dangerous waves along the coast.

As of 6am, up to 50 domestic flights have been canceled at Sydney Airport due to the closure of two of its three runways.

Waves of up to six meters slammed along the Sydney coast on Monday, forcing lifeguards to close a number of beaches including Coogee, Maroubra, Bronte, Tamarama and Cronulla due to ‘extremely dangerous conditions’.

The huge waves drew hundreds of curious beach watchers along the shore as brave surfers ventured into the powerful surf.

“It was the biggest swell I’ve seen at Coogee, there were at least 300 people watching from the dog park,” one resident wrote.

While Bondi and the northern beaches remain open, swimmers and surfers are being warned that this could change.

“The weather forecast indicates high winds and high swell along our beloved coastline. As much as we love the excitement of the ocean, it is crucial to prioritize safety and exercise caution during these conditions,” the Northern Beaches Council wrote.

The mercury dropped to 10.5C at Sydney Airport at 4am Monday, but the apparent temperature was a chilly 8C as cold winds blew through Harbor City.

No international routes were disrupted, but conditions affected other domestic flights across the country en route to Sydney.

“This decision is purely weather related – crosswinds on the parallel runways could reach up to 56km/h and stronger gusts are possible,” said a Sydney airport spokesman.

Passengers on their way to the airport are urged to contact their airline for the latest updates.

Parallel runways are expected to return later Monday, when winds are expected to die down.

Sydney is expected to top 18C on Monday, but it will feel much colder due to gusty winds.

It comes after a massive cold front saw temperatures drop as much as 10 degrees below average in South East Australia, bringing rain, hail, snow and stormy conditions.

Sydneysiders shivered during the city’s coldest night in decades as temperatures plummeted to 7.1°C, the lowest temperature this early autumn in 85 years.

The return of clear skies and lighter winds will bring cold overnight temperatures, with frost likely to affect large parts of Queensland, NSW and the ACT.

While the cold front is expected to move towards the coast, a second cold airflow is expected to arrive from the south of the country in the coming days.

“We have seen a narrow storm band along the coast, consistent with a Category Two cyclone,” meteorologist Tony Auden told Sunrise on Monday.

“Fortunately they are not on the coast, but we have a lot of wind over land, warnings for damaging wind gusts of up to 100km/h south of Sydney as far as Ulladulla with gusts of up to 50km/h as far north as NSW and Queensland as well.

‘Those winds whip up huge seas, possibly with wave heights of up to 8-9 meters off the NSW coast. As that low ebbs away, that energy source moves north and away.”

“We expect quite a bit of erosion on the beaches and could see inundation in low-lying areas.”

Melbourne was also chilly on Monday with an expected high of 15 degrees after the mercury dipped to 7.5 degrees at Melbourne Airport earlier in the morning, which felt more like 1.6 degrees.

Parts of southeastern Australia shuddered over the weekend with their lowest May temperatures in years.

Temperatures in NSW fell a whopping 5°C below the May average. 8C in South Australia and 10C in Tasmania.

Ski resorts also welcomed drops of fresh powder a month into the ski season.

While low pressure systems over the Tasman Sea are not uncommon at this time of year, it produced a unique set of conditions that resulted in unusually low temperatures and snow levels this early in the autumn.’ Weather zone said.

The combination of cold southerly winds near the surface and abundant moisture in the mid and low levels of the atmosphere caused a phenomenon known as the ‘melt effect’ to occur over parts of eastern Vic, eastern NSW and the ACT on Sunday. ‘

Snow is expected to fall at 600 meters in Tasmania, 800 meters in Victoria and as low as 900 meters in NSW, according to senior meteorologist Dean Narramore of the Bureau of Meteorology.

“We’ve seen temperatures four to eight degrees below average in Tasmania, Victoria and NSW and on Monday that cold air will push into Queensland,” Narramore said.

“We are likely to see widespread inland frost across Northern Victoria, much of NSW. We could even see frost coming in parts of Queensland on Monday and Tuesday.”

Mr Narramore described it as ‘a sure sign that winter is coming’.

Another cold front is expected to hit Western Australia on Wednesday, bringing rain, gales and high winds, Narramore said.

Thursday is expected to bring wet and cold weather to Adelaide before weakening and moving into Victoria and Tasmania.