As the sun rose over Western Australia on the first day of summer, it was feeling more like winter in Perth.

The temperature at 5:25am local time was only 6.6ºC, making this the city's coldest morning of summer in 124 years of records.

The previous coldest morning of the season was 7.9ºC in December 2007, while Perth's long-term average minimum temperature at this time of year is about 16ºC.

In fact, this morning's temperature would even be below-average for the middle of winter in Perth.

The unusually cold start to summer was caused by a high pressure ridge that moved over southwestern Australia in the wake of a cold front. This system caused clear skies and light winds to combine with a cool air mass, which are the ideal ingredients for producing low overnight temperatures.

This morning's chilly start comes after Perth's wettest November on record. The city collected 92mm of rain last month, trumping the previous record of 73.2mm from November 1984.