It's the Labour Day long weekend in New South Wales, South Australia and the ACT, while in the rest of the country, it’s a regular two-day weekend.

That’s not ideal timing for people in Perth and nearby parts of WA, with rain expected both days this weekend before a clearing pattern sets in from Monday onwards, but it is good news for those attending the NRL Grand Final between the Melbourne Storm and Brisbane Broncos in Sydney.

Southwest WA weather

Let’s start in the west, where the heaviest rain in WA's South West Land Division should fall on Saturday with totals of up to 20mm or slightly higher possible in the Margaret River area. Persistent showers with slightly lower totals are likely further north in Perth.

Perth is yet to see any rain in the first few days of October after it exceeded its average monthly rainfall in each of the four traditionally wet months from June to September this year for the first time in 18 years.

So while the cold front and associated moisture surging northwards this weekend may not be ideal for those hoping to spend time outdoors, most locals will welcome any rainfall before the dry period of the year sets in.

Image: Hourly Graphs for Perth on the Weatherzone app.

• Perth’s long-term average for October is 38.9mm.
• That’s close to a quarter of the rainfall in the wettest month (July 147.8mm) while it’s roughly four times the rainfall of the driest month (December 9.4mm).
• At the end of September, Perth’s running 2025 rainfall total was 702.6mm, which was around 10% above average.
• Despite the relatively wet year to date, Perth’s water storages were at only half of capacity (49.4%) as of Wednesday, October 1. This reflects the city’s longstanding rainfall deficits, with below-average annual rainfall totals in each of the last three complete calendar years.

The rest of the country

Meanwhile most other parts of Australia can expect clear conditions for most of the weekend as a large high pressure system dominates the national weather pattern, although rain will start to move into parts of southern SA, Vic and Tas on Sunday afternoon or evening.

Image: Synoptic chart for Saturday, October 4, 2025, showing the large high pressure system over eastern Australia and the cold front approaching WA.

The pick of the weekend weather might be in Brisbane, where maximum temperatures in the mid-twenties can be expected before a run of heat in the new week as the mercury pushes up towards 35°C.

Sunday's NRL Grand Final in Sydney should be played under clear skies. After a mid-afternoon maximum of 30°C at Sydney Olympic Park, temperatures should be around 25°C when the match kicks off at 7:30pm at Accor Stadium.

Our Sydney Olympic Park forecast is here.