A cold change which affected much of southeastern Australia late last week has had wide-reaching effects, leading to near-record low temperatures in the north of the country, particularly Queensland.

Nights in Queensland have become much colder since late last week and have even reached near-record lows in some parts.

Saturday night was the coldest September night in 96 years of records for Clermont, in the Central Highlands, where it plummeted to two degrees, 10 below average.

Saturday night was also the coldest September night in at least 15 years for Coolangatta (4.6 degrees), Gladstone (7.6 degrees) and Thangool (0.3 degrees).

These places and many others elsewhere in the state were just as cold on Sunday night. Residents woke up to a cold Monday morning over nearly all of the state. Temperatures were five to 10 degrees below the September average.

This is a contrast to September last year when La Nina helped some of the state to its warmest September nights on record.

Days have not been as extreme as the nights due to clear skies, generally two to seven degrees below average.

Both nights and days are gradually warming and will become near-average by the end of the week.

– Weatherzone