Australia Weather News

Monster swells off the coast of south-west Victoria have created a wave of excitement among local surfers.

A deep cold front that swept through Melbourne and parts of southern Victoria earlier this week, bringing wind gusts of more than 100 kilometres per hour, has delivered peak conditions for those brave enough to take the plunge.

Bureau of Meteorology forecaster Peter Newham said a sustained period of strong west to south westerly winds over water south of the bight had seen the surf pick up.

"It peaked a couple of days ago ... but there's still a pretty large swell running across the south-west coast of Victoria," he said.

"It'll probably decrease a bit over the next few days, but with another low pressure system expected to move south of Victoria on Monday and Tuesday next week, the swell looks like it will increase significantly again."

Wave heights were expected to reach seven metres on Tuesday and Wednesday — well above Victoria's 2.5-metre average.

Mr Newham said wave heights of up to 11 metres were recorded in some parts of the western Bass Strait — but local surfers would not be so lucky.

"We're looking at waves around five or so metres across that area at the moment, dropping back to two or three metres over the weekend," he said.

Surfers warned to be careful in big waves

Swellnet forecaster Craig Brokensha said only the most experienced surfers should try their luck.

The monster swells have sparked a flurry on social media, with surfing aficionados and bystanders alike keen to capture the waves as they batter the south-west coast.

Amateur photographers have taken to Facebook to share their shots and deliver a warning to those game enough to attempt them.

"You need an iron will to pull into a barrel like that — I hope someone did," one user wrote.

Another added: "I didn't see anyone above the water, it looked really tricky to get out there paddling."

Huge waves have been sighted off much of south-west Victoria's coastline, including Port Campbell and Warrnambool.