Snow a possibility in Australian Alps as cold front hits

A cold blast is expected to sweep across the country’s southern states, after some frosty weekend mornings.

Rain and strong winds are expected to hit the southern states this week, with snowfall also a possibility over the Australian Alps after a freezing weekend.

Prominent Alpine towns Mount Buller and Mount Hotham are predicted to drop to negative three degrees on Monday, while Perisher Valley is expected to fall to negative four on Monday and Tuesday.

Adelaide and Melbourne are also unlikely to get a reprieve from their shivering weekends.

After a severe frost warning was issued across parts of South Australia and Victoria on Sunday morning, a second front will bring showers to Melbourne throughout Sunday.

South westerly winds from a trough will also bring colder temperatures.

Throughout the week the weather is likely to clear, with temperatures around the customary 15 degree maximum in Melbourne, before a strong chance of heavy rainfall over the weekend.

A cold front is expected to bring icy temperatures and rain to Australia’s southern states on Sunday and over the weekend. Picture: Sky Weather

Adelaide recorded its coldest morning of the year on Sunday morning, with the mercury dropping to 2.9 degrees, following a minimum of 3.1 degrees on Saturday morning.

But it was the interior regional cities that bore the brunt of the cold, with the South Australian town of Renmark getting to negative two degrees, and the Victorian town of Bendigo to negative one.

Clear and sunny skies are expected for most of the week in Adelaide, before a fresh front is expected to bring rainfall over the weekend.

Parts of western Sydney experienced heavy fog on Sunday morning, leading to a warning for motorists to drive slowly as visibility dropped to below 200 metres.

For the rest of Sunday showers are predicted in Sydney, likely to remain until Monday, before the weather clears and temperatures increase during the week to the low 20s.

A rain band across northern NSW and Queensland on Sunday. Picture: Sky Weather.

Wet weather is also in store for Brisbane and across northern NSW on Sunday and into next week, with some forecasts predicting as much as 30-50mm could fall in central and south east Queensland early next week.

Sky News Australia meteorologist Alison Osborne said it was “quite a mixed bag of weather” across the country.

“Most people are in for something different than a few towns over,” Osborne said.