Thursday was the second coldest day of 2021 for Central Queensland, beaten only by the snap chill of June 12.

Spare a thought for the students of Lochington State School, southwest of Emerald, who began their school day at -0.5C.

Jackson, George, Addison, Ella, Amy and Myles and Miss Gina faced freezing conditions at Lochington State School this morning

Thursday was the second coldest day of 2021 for Rockhampton, beaten only by the snap chill of June 12.

While the temperature in Rockhampton dipped to 2.1C, it was even colder at Lochington State School, southwest of Emerald, where students shivered through a -1.5C low.

By the time the students walked through the school gates, the temperature had only crept up to 4.7C.

Many locations in the southeast recorded their coldest day of the year.

Frost was widespread in the south and southeast, with the majority of the Darling Downs and Granite Belt District below 0C: -4.4C at Oakey (coldest morning since 16/07/2019), -4.1C at Wellcamp Ap, -4.0C Applethorpe (coldest morning since 19/07/2019), -4.0C Roma (coldest morning since 22/06/2019), -3.2C Dalby (coldest morning since 17/07/2019), -2.5C Kingaroy (coldest morning since 24/08/2020) and Warwick (coldest morning since 20/08/2019).

Jackson, George, Addison, Ella, Amy and Myles and Miss Gina faced freezing conditions at Lochington State School this morning

The -1.0C start at Toowoomba was the coldest morning since 11/06/2009 and the coldest July morning since 19/07/2004.

Amberley -0.7C and Hervey Bay 2.3C were the coldest mornings of the year.

Meanwhile in Cairns it was 13.1C while in fell to 9.4C in Townsville (coldest morning of the year) and 5.3C at Mackay Airport.

Some airborne snow flakes were observed near Eukey in the Southern Downs on Wednesday morning but there was no significant accumulation.

Warmer conditions will return from Friday as winds turn northerly ahead of a trough, with the risk of frost easing.

Mostly sunny conditions are expected in the tropics, with several dry days expected.