Christmas morning snow in Tasmania, amid Western Australian heatwave

As Perth and other parts of Western Australia swelter, residents of Australia’s southernmost state have awoken to a white Christmas.

Kunanyi/Mount Wellington in Hobart received a dusting of snow this morning, and at 8:40am, the mercury on the mountain had fallen to minus 1.4 degrees Celsius.

The Bureau of Meteorology said rain was turning into snow before it hit the ground above 700 metres.

The central midlands also received a Christmas morning dusting of snow. 

WA heatwave

Meanwhile, Western Australia has been in the grip of a heatwave, with the temperature in Perth soaring well past the forecast 40C on Christmas Day.

As of 2pm WST, the temperature in the city hit 42C and was still climbing, while in Gooseberry Hill east of the city, it hit 43.1C.

The Perth weather station, which is actually located in Mt Lawley, recorded its hottest Christmas Day ever in 2021, reaching a high of 42.8C.

Conditions are hot and dry with strong east-to-north-easterly winds peaking during the morning and severe fire weather warnings across many parts of the state.

Much of the state's south-west is subject to a total fire ban.

Open fires for cooking, camping or outdoor entertainment are not allowed, including fire pits and bonfires.

Despite the heat, Perth failed to reach a forecast overnight temperature that would have been the hottest Christmas morning on record.

Temperatures were tipped to only drop to an overnight low of 26C, breaking the record set in 1915 of 25.9C.

Perth recorded a minimum of 24.2C at 5am — and the mercury had already climbed back to 30.3C by 8:30am.

A bushfire alert is also in place for the Boddington Gold Mine, south-east of Perth.

East of Perth, in the town of Northam, the mercury is also set to reach 40C today, and the fire danger rating is high.

More than 200 people will celebrate the day at a Christmas lunch at a local community centre.

"To be able to be here on Christmas Day in the middle of the day and at the peak of the heat is a relief for so many," organiser Kym Edwards said.

Tropical Cyclone Grant

Far off WA's north coast, a category one cyclone impacted residents of Cocos (Keeling) Islands on Christmas morning.

Hotel manager Kurunda Seyit said there was no major damage to buildings, but there were trees down.

He said he worried if his house could withstand the 100 km/h winds it endured overnight.

“There is this sense of doom when things like this happen … you just don't know how bad it’s going to get,” he said.

“We have an aluminium roof, so you can hear [the rain] pounding down so hard, and the wind gusts are just coming in these big, strong bursts.

Christmas forecasts around the country

Brisbane is expected to reach 35C, with a chance of showers and a possible thunderstorm. 

A maximum of 30C and rain is forecast for Darwin.

Canberra is sunny and expecting a top of 28C.

Adelaide will have cloudy and windy conditions, with temperatures peaking at 24C.

It will be cloudy with a slight chance of a shower in Sydney, with a top of 24C.

Melbourne will be similar to Hobart, minus the snow — cloudy with a slight chance of showers and a maximum of 17C.