Perth has shivered through one of its coldest days of the year, thanks to a cold front sweeping across south-west Western Australia.
The air leading the cold front is said to be “unseasonably cold”, with temperatures forecast to drop 4C to 8C below average today.
The mercury at Perth’s main weather station reached just 9C at midday on Tuesday.
A large pool of icy air from the Southern Ocean is spreading across southwest Australia today. (BoM)
“This is equal to the city’s average overnight minimum temperature for this time of year and about 9 degrees Celsius below the average August maximum temperature,” Weatherzone said.
“If Perth doesn’t hit 14.2C before 9am on Wednesday, it will have been the city’s coldest day so far this year.”
The Bureau of Meteorology (BoM) said the system will bring a wave of wild weather.
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“Cold and gusty winds behind the front will bring showers, small hail and isolated thunderstorms on Tuesday,” he wrote.
A spokesman confirmed that aircraft QF1206 is undergoing engineering checks at Karratha Airport in the state’s Pilbara region.
The Qantas flight diverted to Karratha Airport in Western Australia’s Pilbara region. (Flightware)
The cool air mass started to move over Perth yesterday and by 11.40am 9.8mm of rain had fallen.
“A cold front marks the boundary between two air masses: warmer air ahead of the front and cooler air behind it,” BoM explained.