The Easter Long Weekend is going to be cold, wet and windy in Melbourne, with the city currently forecast to have its coldest Easter Sunday since 1946.

While Easter is still three to six days away, forecast models suggest that a burst of unusually cold mid-autumn weather will hit southeastern Australia this weekend.

The cold snap will be driven by a strong cold front lurching northwards and dragging a frigid air mass towards Australia from the Southern Ocean.

Image: Forecast 850 hPa temperature on Easter Sunday morning, showing a cold air mass passing over southeastern Australia.

Melbourne’s run into the long weekend will initially be warm, with northerly winds ahead of the approaching cold air pushing temperatures up to around 26ºC in the city on Thursday.

On Friday, a combination of showers, possible storms, clouds and a cooler westerly change will see daytime temperatures struggling to get into the low twenties in Melbourne. But this will just be a preview of the colder weather that lies ahead on the weekend.

South to southwesterly winds will draw in progressively colder air into Melbourne throughout the weekend, along with more showers and blustery winds. Daytime temperatures are only expected to reach around 18ºC on Saturday, 15ºC on Sunday and 16ºC on Monday.

The last time Melbourne had an Easter Sunday at or below 15ºC was in 1943, when the temperature only climbed to 14.3ºC.

This weekend’s cold air could also cause small hail in parts of southeastern Australia, and a dusting of snow on the mainland Alps.