First day of summer delivers record heat in the west, record cold in the east

By weather reporter Tyne Logan and meteorologist Tom Saunders

Topic:Weather

Monday 1 DecemberMon 1 Dec 2025 at 6:29am

Two pictures, one of fire burning on a road, and the other of a car covered in snow. — Bushfires and searing heat in the west, while record low temperatures and a sprinkling of snow ring in summer in Australia's south-east.

Summer has opened with extreme variability across Australia, with widespread hot conditions in Western Australia and extreme cold in the south-east of the country challenging early summer records across several states.

In WA, Perth's temperatures soared to 39 degrees Celsius on Monday, marking the city's hottest start to summer on record, with temperatures still climbing.

The city was one of dozens of places in the state's west and south coast feeling the heat, with a bushfire currently threatening homes in the mid-west.

People and pets cool down at the beach during a February heat wave in Perth. — People flocked to one of Perth's most famous beaches in Cottesloe as temperatures climbed into the high 30s. (ABC News: James Carmody)

Meanwhile, a wintry start to the season has had the country's south-east shivering, with snow falling across the alpine region and temperatures plummeting as much as 15C below average.

Dozens of locations across New South Wales, Victoria and Tasmania are experiencing their coldest start to summer in decades, with strong winds making it feel even more unseasonal.

Where cold records tumbled

The frigid temperatures are the result of a wave of polar air, which is tracking well north of a typical December path.

Widespread cold conditions between 10-15C were expected on Monday, according to Bureau of Meteorology senior meteorologist Sarah Scully, with several locations challenging early summer records.

"Once you have a series of cold fronts, it really just keeps re-enforcing that colder air and you end up with a really deep layer of colder air that can just keep reducing the maximum temperature," she said.

While figures won't be final until 9am tomorrow, several locations are on track to set a record for their coldest start to December.

Light dusting of snow on a slope. — A post on the Mt Hotham Alpine Resort Facebook page said the area hit a low of -0.9C last night and woke to a dusting of snow. (Supplied: Mt Hotham Alpine Resort )

It includes the alpine parts of NSW and Victoria, which struggled to get above freezing all day.

Melbourne, Ballarat, Canberra and Hobart were also notably cold, though it wasn't quite a record.

As of 3pm in Melbourne, the maximum temperature for the day was 16.1C — just above the city's coldest December 1st maximum of 15.5C, set in 1987 at the former site.

The winds have ensured it feels far worse, though.

Two people in winter clothes looking at their phones. — Melburnians were rugged up on Monday morning as summer got off to a cold start. (ABC News)

At 2:30pm, the "feels like" temperature in Melbourne Airport was just 2.5C, despite the actual air temperature being 11.5C.

"The wind-chill factor is creating particularly biting cold weather across Victoria," Ms Scully said.

Potential cold records for December 1 (as of 4pm AEST)

Records are for daytime maximum temperature

Thredbo, NSW -0.8C. Previous record 3.3C in 2019
Khancoban, NSW 14.2C. Previous record 18.7C in 1964 and 2019
Ivanhoe, NSW 21.1C. Previous record 21.8C in 2019
Mount Hotham, VIC -0.6C. Previous record 0.5C in 2019

Other notable temperatures

Hobart 14C. Coldest summer since 1942 (13.1C)
Canberra 19C. Coldest start to summer since 1994 (17.5C)
Ballarat 13.1C. Coldest start to summer since 1987 (11.4C)
Melbourne 16.1C. Coldest start to summer since 1996 (15.8C)

A dusting of snow over jagged rocks atop Mt Wellington in the morning. — Robbie Moles shared photos of "snowvember" on Mt Wellington, in Hobart. (Supplied: Facebook/Robbie Moles)

The latest cold snap marks what has been a particularly chilly run of weather in the south-east of Australia since early November.

Last month brought five snowfalls to the mainland Alps as frequent cold fronts arrived off the Southern Ocean.

Where records were broken in the west

In Western Australia, it's been the complete opposite.

Widespread warm weather, between 8-10C above average across the west and south coast, has helped bring the state's capital city, Perth, its hottest start to December on record.

December 1st maximum temperature records (as of 4:30pm AEST)

Geraldton 42.2C. Hottest start to summer since 1924 (44.4C)
Albany Airport 36.2C. Hottest start to summer on record. Previous record 31.1C in 1950
Perth 39C. Hottest start to summer on record. Previous record 37.4C in 1979

It's not the only place facing the heat.

The regional city of Geraldton — 400 kilometres north of Perth — has also experienced its hottest start to December in nearly 100 years, hitting 42.2°C at 11:23am.

Firefighters are battling a bushfire in the area amid the extreme hot, dry and windy conditions. The fire reached emergency levels earlier in the day but has since been downgraded to Watch and Act.

One home has been lost and hundreds of others are under threat from the fire, which authorities suspect was deliberately lit.

Temperatures along the state's usually cooler south coast have also been markedly warm for this time of year.

Albany reached a top of 36.2C at 12:50pm, making it the city's hottest start to summer since records began in 1907.

Vic, WA remain well off all-time record

Even though the temperatures in both WA and Vic are notable for the first day of summer, they are a long way off all-time records for December.

Melbourne has had temperatures in the low teens on numerous occasions in December in the past, including a record cold December maximum of just 10.4C in 1867.

A person in winter gear walking over a bridge. — Maximum temperatures are forecast to be 8 to 12 degrees below the December average in Melbourne today. (ABC News)

Meanwhile, Perth regularly hits temperatures of about 35C during the summer months. Its highest temperature during the month of December is 44.2C on Boxing Day, 2007.

Extreme weather conditions short-lived

Thankfully, both extremes are expected to be short-lived, but the WA heat will track to eastern Australia through the week.

A tongue of hot air arriving from northern Australia will track slowly across inland WA on Tuesday and Wednesday, then peak over south-east states from Thursday.