A pleasant sight on an unpleasant day – sunlight on showers blown in by a bitterly cold southerly creates a rainbow this evening 7pm EST.  Photo by Australian Weather Watch reporter Claire Martin .

Sydney has experienced its coldest October day in 16 years according to our Australian Weather Watch reporter Claire Martin.  “Snow fell just out of Sydney on the Blue Mountains today.  Snow isn’t rare on the ranges but it is very rare in October”.

Our international weather partner, weather.com, says today’s high was 14 degrees downtown Sydney with a ‘feels like’ temperature of 11 degrees thanks to a gusty, cold, southerly.

The Blue Mountains border the outskirts of Sydney and are better known in New Zealand for making the headlines with large bush fires.

And, the cold weather is coming here – similar cold southerlies are expected to arrive in the South Island of New Zealand this weekend bringing snow to the ranges around Southland and Otago.