In metropolitan Melbourne, the lowest temperature recorded was at Viewbank, which fell to minus 1.9 degrees at 7am – the coldest June morning since 2013. The CBD recorded 1.4 degrees, but the apparent temperature was minus 2.3 degrees.

The cold front pushing cold and dry air up south-eastern Australia has reached as far as Queensland, where frost has been recorded over the past several days, said the Bureau of Meteorology’s Helen Reid.

“And then behind that, we have also had a ridge of high pressure,” the meteorologist said.

“Now that means the cold just settles right down. It just stays put. And with clear skies overnight, we’re able to have that cold air get even colder overnight.”

In the Sydney CBD, the temperature fell to 6.6 degrees at 7.10am on Wednesday, and the city is forecast to reach a high of 16 degrees during the day.

In Hobart, it fell to 4.8 degrees, while in Smithton, on Tasmania’s north-west coast, the temperature dropped to minus 4.5 degrees, the town’s lowest mark since 1996.

Queensland wasn’t immune to the cold either.

The Ipswich suburb of Amberley, west of Brisbane, fell to minus 0.5 degrees at 6.52am on Wednesday, while Brisbane recorded a low of 10.6 degrees, with an apparent temperature of 8.4 degrees.

Across the Nullarbor, Perth recorded a low of 4.8 degrees – well down on the June average of 8.6 degrees.

Weatherzone predicted cool temperatures would persist into Thursday, with the east of the country waiting until Friday for a reprieve before cool conditions return next week.

In its winter long-range forecast, the Bureau of Meteorology predicted an increased chance of unusually warm days and nights for July and September.

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