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Damaging winds and heavy rain are expected to hit southeastern Australia as winter sets in and brings freezing temperatures across the country.
A seasonal cold front will move through Victoria, Tasmania and the ACT, before moving north towards Sydney on Wednesday.
Strong and potentially destructive winds are forecast to devastate parts of Gippsland, Victoria, southern New South Wales and most of Tasmania.
Residents in south-eastern South Australia have also been told to watch out for gale warnings.
Weatherzone senior meteorologist Brett Dutschke told Daily Mail Australia that wind gusts could reach speeds of up to 100km/h and knock down trees and branches.
Southeast Australia will be devastated by potentially destructive rain bomb and winds early this week (file image)
Heavy rain is expected to fall in south-east Australia with up to 80mm forecast for parts of Tasmania (file image)
TASMANIA
Weatherzone forecasters predict parts of Tasmania could be hit by destructive winds of up to 125km/h on Tuesday morning.
Parts of the Apple Aisle are also expected to receive between 40 and 80 mm of rain cumulatively from Monday to Wednesday.
Winter cold combined with strong winds pushed apparent temperatures below freezing in central and eastern Tasmania on Monday night.
The Bureau of Meteorology recorded a wind gust of 128 km/h at Scotts Peak Dam in Southwestern National Park at 7:30 a.m. Tuesday.
Winds of around 100 km/h remain possible in the western, northern and eastern districts of the state, including the Furneaux Islands and King Island.
VICTORY
Melburnians woke up to strong winds and rain on Tuesday, with Melbourne Airport recording -0.5C in its “feels like” reading with gusts of 72km/h.
The Bureau of Meteorology has also put sheep herders on alert, warning that there is a risk of loss of lambs and sheep exposed to the cold, rain and strong northwest winds.
Coastal and elevated regions of Victoria, including parts of Melbourne, are expected to feel the freeze during a cold snap on Tuesday morning.
New South Wales/ACT
The “vigorous” cold front will move across southeastern New South Wales on Tuesday and Wednesday, BoM said.
Winds are expected to ease in alpine areas early Wednesday morning, but may continue in the remaining eastern parts of the warning until Wednesday afternoon.
Sheep farmers across the ACT and regional NSW have also been warned about the “risk of loss to lambs and ewes exposed to these conditions”.
The cold front is expected to bring decent snowfall to ski resorts after an unfavorable weather opening to the season.
Weatherzone predicts between 15 and 25 centimeters of snow above 1,500 meters in the Alps.
Conditions are expected to improve “significantly” on Thursday, Dutschke said.
Parts of Tasmania are forecast to receive up to 80mm of rain over Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday, while Victoria and southern New South Wales are also expected to be hit by rain (pictured).
SOUTH AUSTRALIA
The bureau also issued offshore wind warnings for areas of southeastern South Australia which are expected to hit on Tuesday and continue into Wednesday.
Strong winds are expected to hit Western Australia’s Esperance coast, while the Northern Territory has no current warnings.
QUEENSLAND
The Gold and Sunshine coasts were warned of strong winds along the coast on Wednesday.
Last month, the bureau released its long-range forecast for this winter, which predicted inland and northern Queensland are most likely to be abnormally dry.
However, the office warned that “long-range forecasts are probabilistic in nature and involve a certain degree of uncertainty.”
NORTHERN TERRITORY
There are currently no warnings for Top End, however it is more likely to receive lower amounts of rainfall during the winter months, according to the office.
Temperatures in the Northern Territory and across Australia are also expected to be higher than usual.
“Days and nights are very likely to be warmer than average across Australia, with an increased chance of unusually warm days and nights,” the forecast reads.
WEST AUSTRALIA
Strong winds are expected to hit the Esperance coast in Western Australia.
The bureau has since canceled previous warnings on the Leeuwin and Albany coasts.