Adelaide and SA weather: winter is well and truly on its way to with low temperatures

If you were cold over the weekend it would be with good reason, and there’s one main sign winter is well and truly on its way.

Wintry weather is well and truly on its way to South Australia with cold days and freezing overnight temperatures forecast at the weekend a prelude for what is to come.

Adelaide recorded its coldest maximum temperature for the year on Saturday when the mercury only managed to climb to 15.6C. Showers also lashed the city, with 10.8mm falling.

The mercury dropped to a frigid 4.6C in the city overnight on Saturday and dropped to 5.8C on Sunday night, considerably cooler than the forecast low of 9C.

Weekend weather in the city was a lot colder than long-term averages. The average maximum temperature for Adelaide in May is 18.6C and average minimum 10.4C.

Adelaide recorded its coldest maximum temperature for the year on Saturday. File

In the Adelaide Hills, the temperature gauge failed to even crack 10C on Saturday, topping out at 9.6C at Mount Lofty where 16.2mm of rain also fell.

On Monday, the bureau has forecast a maximum of 16C in the city with a medium chance of rain and light south-westerly winds of up to 20km/h during the day, easing towards the afternoon.

Wild weather also lashed much of eastern Australia over the weekend.

Strong winds lashing Sydney has caused airport chaos there and delayed some flights out of Adelaide to the city this morning.

A 6am Adelaide-Sydney Qantas flight was delayed 1 ½ hours before taking off at 7.30am, while a 9.30am Virgin flight to Sydney has been cancelled altogether.

A scheduled 8.55am Qantas flight has been delayed by an hour and a 9.15am Jetstar flight is now not scheduled to leave until 11.10am.

The mercury will hit a high of only 20C for the week on Thursday and Sunday with a low of just 8C on Wednesday.

Bureau of Meteorology meteorologist Miriam Bradbury said there will be little reprieve from cold weather.

“May is really the month where we start to see these strong fronts coming through, bringing those wintry bursts of air from the south,” she said.

“It’s nothing unseasonable but it will feel cold nonetheless.”

In the Adelaide Hills, Mount Barker Monday’s forecast of 14C will be the low for the week with the top temperature 19C on Thursday and just 5C overnight on Saturday.

Elsewhere, in Port Augusta the mercury will hit just 17C on Monday but the weather will be slightly warmer throughout the week with a maximum temperature of 23C forecast for Sunday.