Much of New South Wales and Victoria have had a chilly start to the week as the mercury plunged below freezing in some areas.

A high pressure system over the Bight is directing strong and cold southerly winds over eastern Australia. This has allowed temperatures to fall well below average for this time of year, leaving many wondering where summer has gone.

Sydney has had a run of cool days to start the summer, remaining below 23 degrees on each day so far, making this the coldest start to the season in 44 years. Yesterday continued to trend of unseasonable temperatures, falling to 12 degrees, which is the coldest December morning in 16 years.

Katoomba had its lowest December minimum in over 50 years of records as temperatures fell to just two degrees overnight.

One of the coldest temperatures was recorded in Goulburn at minus one, which is 12 degrees below average for the area!

Melbourne also felt the chill as it recorded a low of 3.5 degrees at the airport, the coldest December minimum in more than 41 years.

The next few days in the region will remain cool but it should be warming up later in the week. This warmth will unfortunately be accompanied by potentially heavy rain.

– Weatherzone