A polar blast has hit the east coast, bringing gale-force winds with it.
Parts of New South Wales, Victoria and South Australia will feel a cold nip in the air this weekend as a polar air mass sweeps across the east coast, moving further north after it froze Tasmania on Friday.
Queensland will also be hit by the cold front, but it won’t feel it as much as the lower parts of the east coast.
New South Wales has been issued gale wind warnings for the Byron, Macquarie, Hunter, Sydney and Illawarra coasts for Saturday.
The Hunter, Sydney and Illawarra coasts have also been issued hazardous surf warnings, with gale-force wind warnings for the Byron, Coffs and Macquarie coasts continuing into Sunday.
The Hunter, Sydney, Illawarra Coast, Batemans and Eden coasts have been issued strong wind warnings for Sunday.
The cold front is likely to bring showers, possibly even hail to the southern alpine regions over the next two days.
Temperatures are forecast to hit 19 degrees at most by Sunday.
Victoria will also be hit by strong winds on the East Gippsland Coast on Saturday, with temperatures in Melbourne expected to stay at a cool 14 degrees.
The strong winds will stick around on Sunday for the East Gippsland Coast, as well as the Central Gippsland Coast.
Sunday is expected to hit a top temperature of 16 degrees.
There are no other weather warnings for Victoria.
Meanwhile, South Australia has a frost warning as temperatures are expected to plummet to below -1 on Saturday morning.
Upper South East and Lower South East forecast districts are expecting the most frost on Saturday.
“Temperatures at ground level can be many degrees lower than those recorded by standard weather stations, especially in calm conditions with clear skies,” The Bureau of Meteorology warned.
There are no wind warnings for South Australia.
The cold front is also expected to reach lower parts of Queensland, with areas in the South East Gulf of Carpentaria, Sunshine and Gold Coasts issued with strong wind warnings for Saturday.
The Torres Strait, Peninsula Coast and Cairns Coast have also been issued with strong wind warnings.
While temperatures won’t be as cold, a warm 25 degrees is forecast for Saturday, before cooling down to 23 degrees by Sunday.
Wind strength is expected to pick up on Sunday as the front continues to move.
The Sunshine and Gold Coasts have been issued with Gale Wind warnings for Sunday.
Meanwhile, strong winds will hit the South East Gulf of Carpentaria, Torres Strait, Peninsula Coast, Cooktown Coast, Cairns Coast, Townsville Coast, Mackay Coast, Capricornia Coast and K’gari Coast on Sunday.
Parts of Tasmania will experience gale and strong winds over the weekend.
The South East and South West Coasts have been issued with gale-force wind warnings for Saturday and Sunday.
Meanwhile, the South West Lakes region, Far North West Coast, Banks Strait and Franklin Sound, East of Flinders Island and Central West Coast have all been issued with strong wind warnings.
The Far North West Coast, Central North Coast, Banks Strait and Franklin Sound, East of Flinders Island, Lower East Coast and Central West Coast have been issued strong wind warnings for Sunday.
Western Australia and Northern Territory
Meanwhile, Perth will hit a warm 29 degrees today, with wind gusts of up to 70km/h possible in the Hills and Foothills this morning.
Fire danger warnings are high across the city
Darwin will reach a top of 34 degrees on Saturday and Sunday, moderate winds up tp 25km/h are forecasted for the morning, but will ease by the afternoon.
