<div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>A cold snap left millions of people shivering across parts of Australia over the King's Birthday long weekend.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>Temperatures plunged in NSW, Victoria, South Australia and Tasmania before it was Queensland's turn to experience a blast of frigid weather.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>Residents were told to expect minimum temperatures to drop five to 10 degrees below the seasonal average.</span></div></div><div><div id="adspot-mobile-medium"></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><strong><span>READ MORE:</span></strong><span> </span><a href="https://www.9news.com.au/finance/superannuation-changes-2025-all-new-super-fund-changes-explained/6cf3ace6-fa21-4309-b20d-910028eae0a9" rel="" target="" title="The 80,000 Aussies to be hit with new superannuation tax"><strong><span>The 80,000 Aussies to be hit with new superannuation tax</span></strong></a></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>But overall, Australians have been told to expect warmer than usual days this winter.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>So why have we had such a cold start to the season?</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><h3><span>What is the official outlook for winter?</span></h3></div></div><div><div class="OUTBRAIN" data-reactroot="" data-src="//www.9news.com.au/national/winter-temperatures-in-australia-forecast-what-to-expect-everything-to-know-explainer/00e46453-86c5-46fc-98ca-248427c4fb0a" data-widget-id="AR_5"></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>Every state and territory is either likely or very likely to have above-average temperatures for the next three months, according to the Bureau of Meteorology's </span><a href="https://www.9news.com.au/national/winter-weather-forecast-australia-high-rain-temperatures-snowfall/1d125063-9fd1-43f2-a990-721beb29116b" rel="" target="_blank" title="official winter forecast"><span>official winter forecast</span></a><span>.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>Large parts of the country, including Sydney, Perth and south-west Western Australia, and Melbourne and much of Victoria, have more than a 50 per cent chance of recording unusually high maximum temperatures from June to August.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>Even more of the country has a high chance of unusually warm minimum temperatures throughout winter.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><strong><span>READ MORE:</span></strong><span> </span><a href="https://www.9news.com.au/world/air-india-plane-crash-everything-we-know-miraculous-survival-passenger-vishwash-kumar-ramesh/126debf7-2bd5-4ebc-9e50-a0c7f93bd270"><strong><span>Everything we know about the 'miraculous' survival of Air India passenger</span></strong></a><span></span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><h3><span>Why was the beginning of June so cold?</span></h3></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>A seasonal projection covers a period of about three months.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>The cold snap experienced in parts of Australia last week was only one week out of a 13-week period.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>While there is a general warming trend overall, that doesn't mean we don't have cold weather from time to time.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>As University of Melbourne climate scientist Andrew King explains, there are natural variations with each season and the beginning of winter is likely catching people off guard after autumn.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>"A lot of people aren't used to colder weather, it has been a bit below average places," King said.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>"We normally see warmer than average historic temperatures because of climate change, but we do still have cold snaps from time to time."</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><h3><span>Will winter still be warmer than average?</span></h3></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>Yes, this is the likely scenario for Australia this winter.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>According to the latest data from the Bureau of Meteorology, Australia experienced its fourth-warmest autumn on record since national observations began in 1910.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>Victoria had its warmest autumn on record, while New South Wales and Western Australia had their second-warmest and South Australia had its third-warmest.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>Climate Council councillor and University of Melbourne Emeritus Professor David Karoly said while the weather has remained predictable from week to week, seasonal variations have been harder to predict.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>"If we look at the frequency of record low temperatures across Australia compared with record high temperatures, there's a much greater frequency of record high temperatures and heatwaves than there are in cold temperatures and cold spells," Karoly said.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>"Yes, we had a very cold spell last weekend.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>"The bureau's forecasting of that cold event was very accurate.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>"But they can't get the same accuracy in forecasting seasonal outlooks, because there's not the same dominance of circulation.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>"In practice, forecasting weather beyond about a one week timescale is quite uncertain and quite unreliable because of the chaotic variations that we see with forecasting."</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><a href="https://www.9news.com.au/national/how-to-follow-9news-digital/29855bb1-ad3d-4c38-bc25-3cb52af1216f" target="_blank"><strong><em><span>DOWNLOAD THE 9NEWS APP</span></em></strong></a><strong><em><span>: Stay across all the latest in breaking news, sport, politics and the weather via our news app and get notifications sent straight to your smartphone. 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