Even the Little Penguins at Perth Zoo would be reaching for a scarf today, with the city shivering through one of its coldest days so far this year.

A large pool of icy air from the Southern Ocean is spreading over southwestern Australia today in the wake of a cold front. While cold fronts are normal in Perth at this time of year, the air behind this system is unusually cold, even for the middle of winter.

Amid this blast of piercing polar air, the temperature at Perth’s main weather station was sitting on just 9ºC at midday on Tuesday. This is equal to the city’s average overnight minimum temperature at this time of year and a whopping 9ºC below its average August maximum temperature.

Image: Perth's temperature and rainfall observations from Monday afternoon to Tuesday afternoon.

Nearby, it has been even more bitterly cold at Bickley today, with the mercury only sitting on 7.8ºC at midday and wind chill making it feel more like 4ºC.

If Perth fails to reach 14.2ºC before 9am on Wednesday, this will have been the city’s coldest day so far this year. However, the city’s all-time record low maximum temperature of 8.8ºC from June 26, 1956 will not be challenged.