Australia Weather News

Queensland is set for a cold snap as temperatures are forecast to drop below average this week in a wintry blast.

The Bureau of Meteorology has forecast a sunny and cool day across most of the state today, with patchy morning frost in the central interior and Granite Belt.

However, senior forecaster Harry Clark said the public should brace for a chilly week.

"From Tuesday onwards will be 4 to 8 degrees [Celsius] below average in terms of temperatures, that's maximum and minimum temperatures," he said.

"So, quite a cold blast to come for most of Queensland. The only area to really escape that will be the far north, so Cairns and the peninsula," he said.

"For the rest of Queensland, it'll be a proper wintry week."

Mr Clark said today temperatures could be as low as 11 degrees in Brisbane, 7 degrees through the southern interior in places like Stanthorpe and about 4 degrees in the central interior.

"Up the east coast, probably still in the teens [temperature-wise] for most places in central and northern Queensland, but certainly as we get to Tuesday, when that cold air mass becomes properly established, it will become pretty chilly and cold," he said.

Isolated frost to become widespread

The bureau has forecast frost this morning in isolated areas around the Carnarvon Ranges and potentially the Granite Belt.

Mr Clark said frost was expected to become more widespread from tomorrow onwards, across the Darling Downs, Maranoa, Warrego, and into the central-west and Central Highlands.

"We couldn't rule it [frost] out through western suburbs of Brisbane and Ipswich with that cold air mass in place," he said.

"We're expecting those cold temperatures to really hang around and persist through southern and central Queensland, even potentially sending a little further into northern and far-northern Queensland."

Mr Clark said people in the south-east could expect to feel even colder because of westerly winds accompanying the chilly weather.

"Although it will be sunny, it might feel a few degrees colder than the actual temperature suggests," he said.