Australia Weather News

Temperatures have reached record-breaking lows in south-east Queensland this morning, with the mercury dropping 5 to 8 degrees Celsius below average.

Brisbane's CBD woke to its coldest June morning since 2002, recording just 5.2C.

The Brisbane Airport dropped to 3.5C, which the Bureau of Meteorology's (BOM) Harry Clark said was its coldest June morning since 2009.

He said the low temperatures were caused by a cold southerly air mass and a high-pressure system that "acts like a lid on the atmosphere".

"It means when we get those clear night-time conditions, it allows that cold air mass to cool down really efficiently and radiate all that warmth out of the surface," Mr Clark said.

"Consequently, we've been left with these really cold mornings across south-eastern Queensland and indeed much of the state."

Cold weather set to continue

Mr Clark said the cold weather was expected to continue in the coming days.

"[It will be] a smidge warmer tomorrow and Sunday, but certainly still below average over the weekend," he said.

Large parts of the Darling Downs, Maranoa and Warrego areas also woke to more heavy frosts on Friday.

Oakey recorded -3.7C at 5:30am. 

Applethorpe recorded -3.5C, while Kingaroy hit -2.8C at 5:30am. 

The BOM's Daniel Hayes said temperatures for most of the southern parts of the state would be low single figures throughout the day.

Mr Hayes said warmer weather might be a while away.

"We'll be returning to around about the June average for those maximum temperatures [next week], while the minimum temperatures, while they will go up a bit, they'll still be a few degrees below average," he said.

Mr Hayes said the cooler air would push its way north into the peninsula and North Tropical Coast.

"At this stage, the expectation is that those areas which so far have remained above average or very close to average, we'll probably see a cooling, but not significantly below average, at most probably 1 or 2C below average for most areas," he said.

"Looking at Cairns, for instance, our temperatures will come down, but they'll basically settle at around the June average."

Cairns was forecast to reach a top of 28C on Friday, Townsville was set to hit 27C, and Brisbane a maximum of 19C.

Cooler weather attraction

Queensland Country Tourism chief executive Peter Homan said he hoped the cooler weather stuck around as tourists sought spots to warm up by a fire.

He said places such as Stanthorpe had been attracting tourists from all over Queensland.

"Whenever I speak to operators, they're all telling me that they're completely booked out for weekends, right through until about the middle of September or early October, so that's encouraging," Mr Homan said.

"There are a lot of people on the road with caravans and camper trailers."

Mr Homan said they were arriving to experience the region and see the change in seasons.

"I think that's one of the great things about this region, the change is both in colour, the sunlight and the frost, and the feeling that you get when you walk out the door in the morning and it's super cold," he said.

"I think it's something everyone wants to experience."