Sydneysiders woke on Friday to find the Emerald City blanketed in thick fog, causing chaos for ferry users as services were cancelled until 8.30am.

The fog had cleared by late morning, giving way to blue skies and a rare bit of sunshine for what has been a sodden first five months of the year.

Over the next four days, parts of NSW should expect up to 50 millimetres of rain due to a strong cold front moving across the state, which is expected to bring damaging winds.

For Sydney, the bureau has forecast a 60 per cent chance of rain on Saturday with a potential thunderstorm in the city’s west. Sunday is expected to be another clear day before another onset of rain on Monday.

The Bureau of Meteorology released its winter outlook on Thursday, and it wasn’t good news for anyone hoping for a stretch of sunshine.

Due to the stubbornness of La Niña, an emerging negative Indian Ocean Dipole and warmer than average waters, a wetter than average winter is expected for the east coast of Australia.

The bureau has forecast higher than average rainfall from June to August. It might be slightly warmer than usual, with minimum temperatures likely to be above the median for most of the country. Maximum temperatures could also be below average for central Australia from coast to coast.

Bureau meteorologists expect La Niña to finally break down at some point this winter.