Frigid polar blast to move over Victoria at weekend

Victorians are set to shiver through a freezing weekend as a polar blast sends temperatures plunging across the state.

Victoria is set to shiver through an Antarctic blast as temperatures get set to plunge across the state over the weekend.

A five-day cold snap looms for the state, with the arrival of a strong high-pressure system in the Tasman Sea trapping freezing air across the southeast until next week.

Forecasters from Weatherzone anticipated an extended period of freezing weather ahead.

“A prolonged outbreak of frigid air with Antarctic origins will envelop southeastern Australia for most of next week from this weekend onwards,” they said.

Melbourne blanketed in fog earlier in the week. Picture: Jake Nowakowski

“Wedged between a strong high pressure system centred over The Bight and a low in the Tasman Sea, this lingering, bitterly cold air mass will make it feel like someone left the fridge door open for several days.

“It will be cold, even for July, that much we can guarantee. What remains uncertain at this stage is how much moisture will be associated with the system, and when it will arrive.”

As a result of the polar blast, the state will also experience “snowfall at times in places beyond the mountains that rarely see a settled cover”.

Melbourne will be lashed with rain over the weekend, with the showers forecast to continue into the start of next week.