A cold blast is set to sweep across south-eastern Australia over the coming days, bringing plunging temperatures, strong winds and snow to parts of Victoria, New South Wales, the ACT and Tasmania. The change follows a spell of mild weather last week that saw temperatures reach the mid-20s in some areas, and comes with gale warnings issued for Victoria's East Gippsland coast and Tasmania's west coast, highlighting how sharp the shift will be.

Hobart is forecast to reach just 12C on Tuesday, with Melbourne peaking at 13C on Wednesday, while Sydney's maximum will drop to 18C and Canberra's to 13C by Wednesday. Canberra faces a frosty start to Thursday with a low of -1C, and Sydney will dip to 10C, while light snow is expected on Victoria's high country and southern NSW, though only Perisher remains open among the ski resorts. In contrast, Perth will see much warmer, unsettled conditions, with temperatures reaching 30C on Wednesday before possible severe thunderstorms develop later in the week.