Weekend weather forecast: Aussies warned to rug up as temperatures plummet

Australians have been warned to rug up, with temperatures set to plummet over the coming days, with single-digit temperatures, wind and rain forecast.

If you needed any further incentive to follow government guidelines and stay indoors this weekend, the weather has got you covered.

Australians have been told to rug up over the coming days as a cold front rolls through the nation’s south, bringing showers with it and sending temperatures plummeting into the single digits.

People along the southeast can expect a chilly weekend, with below-average temperatures sticking around over the next couple of days and gale-force winds and scattered showers expected to hit the coast.

The drop in the mercury, explained  Sky Weather meteorologist Alison Osborne, is “due to a prevailing south-to-south-westerly wind stream on the eastern flank of a high pressure system.

While the front won’t bring significant day-to-day temperature drops, it’ll be the first of multiple cold “bursts” moving through the nation’s south at the start of next week, followed by a rain band on Tuesday that’s moving in from Western Australia.

Cold fronts are forecast to sweep across the southeast of Australia bringing cooler temps & showers.

Shower activity is expected over west Tas & expected snowfalls down to 900m.

Windy conditions are likely in the alps, across Bass Strait and Tasmania.https://t.co/VoJnmfU9pv pic.twitter.com/Zd8kgMSjR5

— Bureau of Meteorology, Australia (@BOM_au) April 16, 2020

Can confirm snow for @rykgoddard this morning on #kunanyi. Snow to around 800m this morning, gradually rising throughout the day. #Hobart: Windy with a few showers and 13°C today. pic.twitter.com/mcUb4lOJk0

— Bureau of Meteorology, Tasmania (@BOM_Tas) April 16, 2020

In Tasmania, where temperatures in Hobart today only reached 13C and will get as low as 7C on Sunday, there’s already been at least 800 metres of snowfall in some parts, with more on the way.

“We’re certainly moving into Winter,” Weatherzone meteorologist Joel Pippard said.

“This is the time when we see temperatures starting to drop, we’re really starting to get into the cold part.”

Further north in Victoria and New South Wales, below-average temperatures are also expected across the next five days, with the mercury dropping as low as 10C in Melbourne tomorrow and showers on the horizon.

In other parts of Victoria, cold and cloudy conditions are forecast on Saturday and Sunday, with Bendigo shivering through its coldest night of 2020 so far.

Sydney is in for a wet day on Sunday with tops of 20C due to the development of a coastal trough that will signal cooler temperatures and rainfall.

While Canberra is in for a sunny weekend, temperatures will stay below 20C, dropping from 19C tomorrow to 16C on Sunday, and lows of 4C forecast for both nights.

In the nation’s west, cloudy conditions and showers are forecast for Perth, with the mercury expected to hit 23C on both days of the weekend and drop to 16C.

And a rain band that’s moving from Western Australia will travel east through the Great Australian Bite and into South Australia as the weekend progresses, bringing showers to Adelaide for the next three days and lows of 12C.