Australia

A cold front from the Tasman Sea is tracking towards the western side of New Zealand today after delivering a blast of wind and rain to southern Australia in recent days. The front will move onto the South Island and sweep the western side northwards to reach the North Island on Wednesday.

Heavy rainfall is expected in Westland from Tuesday night to Wednesday morning.

A considerably large low covers the Southern Ocean south of Australia and will bring strong winds across southern coastal Australia for the next few days ahead. The main front system moves through Sunday morning and Monday, then weakens somewhat as it crosses the Tasman Sea towards New Zealand on Tuesday and Wednesday.

A flurry of cold fronts will sweep across southern Australia during the next week, causing multiple bouts of rain, thunderstorms, damaging winds and snow.

While this type of weather is typical in southern Australia during winter, there has been a lack of rain-bearing system during the first two months of the season.

Updated 10:44am --- Australia's run of warmer than average weather is about to briefly stop, but New Zealand has more warmer than average weather on the way.

A deep trough is now passing over Australia and it's pushing temperatures up well above average, also bringing rain and wind to the south and thunderstorms too.

Scattered thunder showers have been observed under a wide and long cloud area caused by a cold front.

A deep trough is passing through the southwestern part of Western Australia today. A well-marked cold front will sweep the area during this morning then strong winds kick in.

A short-period intense rain is forecast (30mm/h is expected) in the vicinity of the front.

Most of Australia is likely to experience a relatively dry and warm run into spring, according to the latest seasonal outlook issued by the Bureau of Meteorology on Thursday.

An intense cold front will hit Tasmania with heavy rain from this afternoon and into Thursday morning. Heavy rainfall will be enhanced on the western side of the island because of the strong westerly winds and the blocking effect of Tasmania's mountains (which should see some snow).

Clear skies and light winds have led to several chilly mornings throughout southeast Queensland.

Amberley has seen a run of cold mornings, with the mercury Tuesday morning dropping to -1.6 degrees, which is nearly seven degrees below the July average. 

Melbourne has had a chance to thaw out after experiencing its coldest three day spell in as many years during the middle of this past week.

Daytime temperatures have been suppressed across Victoria during the last week as a pool of cold air produced widespread cloud and showers across the state.