Summer has opened with extreme weather contrasts across Australia, as Western Australia swelters under record-breaking heat while the south-east shivers through its coldest start to the season in decades.
In Perth, temperatures soared to 39°C on Monday, marking the city’s hottest start to summer on record. Dozens of towns across WA’s west and south coast also endured scorching conditions, with a bushfire threatening homes in the mid-west.
Meanwhile, the south-east experienced a wintry blast, with snow falling across alpine regions and temperatures plunging up to 15°C below average. Strong winds added to the chill, making conditions feel even more unseasonal.
According to the Bureau of Meteorology, dozens of locations in New South Wales, Victoria, and Tasmania are on track to set records for their coldest start to December. Senior meteorologist Sarah Scully explained: “Once you have a series of cold fronts, it really just keeps re-enforcing that colder air and you end up with a really deep layer of colder air that can just keep reducing the maximum temperature.”
Final figures will be confirmed Tuesday morning, but early data suggests several regions may officially record their coldest early summer temperatures in decades.
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