The weather in Sydney, Melbourne and Brisbane: cold winds and rain this week

A cold wind gust will hit most of Australia as temperatures plummet to record lows and an entire state braces for a week of heavy rain.

Forecasters say the “unusual” rain that fell across the northern tropics last week and over the weekend will now move east over the next three days.

North-east Queensland was battered by torrential rain on Saturday, while Tennant Creek in the Northern Territory received 37.6mm of rain the following day – the highest dry season rainfall since July 1978.

Bedford Downs in Western Australia was drenched with 86mm of rain, while Lajamanu in the NT received up to 68mm of rain.

The rain and associated cloud band will move east on Monday to wreak havoc in inland Queensland and possibly the coast.

Queensland will be battered by cold rain this week, with most of the state receiving between 30 and 80mm over the next 72 hours.

The Gold Coast, Sunshine Coast and Brisbane are expected to receive around 30mm of rain from Wednesday to Friday.

Mount Isa, in the northwest, has already received up to 80 mm of rain.

Camooweal, near Queensland’s western border, received 25.4mm of rain at 9am on Sunday, marking the highest July rainfall in 37 years.

The ‘unusually heavy rainfall’ will be focused on Queensland until at least Wednesday before the cloud band moves into the southeastern states.

The cloud band is also responsible for frigid daytime temperatures this week, as Alice Springs experienced some of its coolest days since 2010.

Temperatures reached just 8.7C on Friday, the coldest day of any month since 2014 and 11 degrees below average.

Further south, wind gusts over southern NSW caused Sydney Airport to cancel nearly 50 flights on Saturday and to postpone dozens more.

The Gold Coast, Sunshine Coast and Brisbane are expected to receive around 30mm of rain from Wednesday to Friday as temperatures plummet to record lows

On Saturday, the Bureau of Meteorology issued a strong wind warning for much of the NSW coast, from Port Macquarie to Batemans Bay.

Westerly winds reached up to 39 km/h, with gusts of 61 km/h, creating potentially dangerous crosswinds for inbound and outbound aircraft.

More than 100 flights were canceled or delayed in and out of Sydney on Friday, with similar scenes for those trying to travel over the weekend.

The airport was forced to use the single east-west runway, rather than the dual north-south runway, just as NSW school holidays began.

Only ‘light wind’ is predicted for Sydney on Monday, with a chance of a light shower and temperatures between 10 and 17 degrees.

There is a good chance of a shower on Tuesday, but the sky clears up on Wednesday afternoon and the sun returns on Friday.

Canberra remains chilly this week too, with showers on Tuesday continuing for most of the week, along with freezing temperatures.

Further south in Victoria, temperatures will drop even lower as residents shiver through a cool and cloudy Monday with highs as low as 14C.

Similar conditions will be experienced in Adelaide, with heavy rain set to fall across the state from Wednesday and continue well into the weekend.

The ‘unusually heavy rainfall’ will be focused on Queensland until at least Wednesday, before the cloud band moves into the southeastern states

In Hobart, minimum temperatures will drop to just 3 degrees on Monday.

Temperatures remain icy this week, with light rain over the weekend.

Perth also remains windy and cold this week, with 10-20mm of rain forecast for Monday and the chance of a thunderstorm in the state’s southwest.

The WA capital will see showers for most of the week, with highs reaching 19C on Saturday and 18C on Sunday.

In the NT Darwin will get some clouds on Monday and a light wind of 15 to 25 km / h in the afternoon.

Darwin will remain dry for most of the week with temperatures reaching a maximum of 33C on Thursday and Friday and lows of up to 19C on Sunday.