With the Queen's Birthday Long Weekend just on the horizon and in the wake of its coldest day in 37 years, Sydney decided to pile on the colder weather by delivering shivering overnight temperatures. Although, it was not only Sydneysiders who were wrapping themselves in extra blankets, because Brisbane dropped to a freezing cold minimum as well.

A low pressure system brought in cold Antarctic air during the day on Thursday, meaning that when the sun dropped, the mercury was already quite low in the east. The wind in Sydney took a turn to a drier westerly direction, while light winds descended over Brisbane which helped overnight temperatures drop even further. 

Sydney and Brisbane reached 5.8 and 7.3 degrees respectively on Friday morning. This simultaneously was: 

• The coldest morning in 3 years for both locations 
• The coldest morning this early in the year for 21 years in Sydney and 6 years in Brisbane 

Of course, the drop in temperatures also brought increased fog in and around the Greater Sydney area. Visibility in the early morning on Friday dropped to: 

• 100 metres at Richmond, Camden, Bankstown, and Katoomba 
• 200 metres at Sydney Olympic Park 
• 700 metres at Sydney Airport 

Saturday morning was a bit kinder on the frost-bitten fingers in Sydney, staying above 9 degrees although Brisbane was treated to another chilly morning, dropping below 8 degrees again. The last time two consecutive June mornings dropped below this threshold was in 2015. Elsewhere in QLD, it was the coldest morning in 7 years for Longreach, and 3 years for Mt Isa and Gladstone. 

Image: Infrared satellite (Himawari-8) imagery showing relatively clear skies over Sydney and Brisbane on Friday morning 

Luckily Brisbane looks to warm up over the next couple of days, with minimum temperatures forecast to stay in the double digits through the middle of the coming week. However, Sydney may just have to look towards the end of the coming week for the same sort of conditions.