Australian Weather

24 Dec 2025, 8:02PM UTC

It's a white Christmas in the heart of summer in Australia's southernmost state, as snow falls in elevated parts of Tasmania this Thursday, December 25, 2025. Snow is falling as low as 700 metres above sea level on Christmas morning, meaning that the summit of 1271m kunanyi/Mt Wellington above Hobart is receiving its fair share of snowflakes.  Image: The sun tries to break through snow-bearing clouds early on Christmas morning 2025 on kunanyi/Mt Wellington. Source: Hobartcity.com.au. This Christmas morning snowfalls are a continuation of a Tasmanian cold outbreak that started late on Tuesday and continued through Wednesday. You can see the moisture-laden airmass responsible for the Christmas morning snowfalls surging towards Tasmania and coastal parts of the SE mainland in the loop below. The speckled cloud pattern is typically associated with airmasses with polar origins. Image: Four-hour combined satellite and radar loop over Tasmania on the morning of Thursday, December 25, 2025. Why is it snowing in the Australian summer? Summer snow is far from a rare event in the highest parts of Tasmania and Australia's southeast mainland, and tends to occur at least once each summer. Indeed, Tasmania saw snow a week ago even as bushfires burned in the state’s east, while snow was reported at the mainland ski resorts on December 1. Even in Australia's warmest and driest year on record in 2019, heavy snow fell on the mainland high country in December. Image: A slightly blurred image due to the Christmas Day snowflakes sticking to the screen at the Mt Mawson shelter, Tasmania, on Thursday, December 25, 2025. Source: Mt Mawson. While the cold fronts that circulate the Southern Ocean tend to slip southwards during the Australian summer, the occasional pool of unstable polar air is always a chance to push northwards at this time of year. That’s what has happened this week, and it’s largely thanks to the jet stream – the swift-moving "river" of air high in the atmosphere which generally blows from west to east. The jet stream tends to move in waves in what is known a meridional pattern, sharply dipping to the north and south as it moves east. This week, the meridional pattern has allowed cold air to be dragged up over Tasmania.

24 Dec 2025, 1:45AM UTC

It won’t be the classic "four seasons in a day" weather, but Melbourne will turn on four seasons worth of weather over the five-day duration of the Boxing Day Ashes Test, as Australia seeks to extend its 3-0 series lead over England from December 26 to December 30 at the MCG. The good news for cricket fans is that while Melbourne's maximum will increase by as much as 15 degrees between Boxing Day (Friday) and the last two days of scheduled play (Monday and Tuesday), almost no rain is likely across the first four days before an approaching trough on day five potentially brings showers and storms. Here's our day-by-day breakdown of weather conditions for the five scheduled days of play in Melbourne: Image: Find the latest 7 day forecast for the MCG on the Weatherzone app. Day 1 will begin with brisk southerly winds in the wake of a cold front which swept across Tasmania over the Christmas period. The coldest air and most of the moisture will stay south of Victoria, but there will still be an unseasonable chill at the MCG with a maximum around 17°C and the slight chance of a shower. Day 2 will also be relatively cool with a maximum around 20°C. Skies will start to clear, with even a light shower appearing highly unlikely. Day 3 will be baby bear's porridge, as in just right for players and spectators alike, with a maximum of 26°C under clear skies. Day 4 is when things start to heat up, with a likely maximum around 32°C under sunny skies as winds start to swing around to the north. Day 5 is when the weather starts to turn, with grey skies and a maximum around 31°C ahead of a fresh burst of cool air pushing through from the south. Melbourne often receives a band of showers and storms ahead of cool changes, with early indications suggesting that any damp weather will arrive in the afternoon/evening rather than the morning. Climate statistics for Melbourne in December Average maximum: 24.2°C Average minimum: 13.0°C Average monthly rainfall: 58.6mm (27.8mm to date as of December 24, 2025) Average number of days reaching 35°C or higher: 2 Average number of days reaching 40°C or higher: 0.2 Hottest December maximum on record: 43.7°C Coldest December maximum on record: 10.4°C Our Melbourne forecast is here.