A wintery blast has wreaked havoc on parts of the country with huge gusts of wind leaving a trail of destruction in their wake. The cooler temperatures have also triggered large snowfalls only two days out from spring.

Melbourne

A powerful cold front has impacted Victoria and parts of southeastern Australia, bringing ice-cold winds, damaging gusts, and significant snowfall to several regions. Areas such as Mount Hotham recorded wind gusts up to 128 km/h and received 77 cm of fresh snow, while Melbourne experienced gusts exceeding 100 km/h. 

Emergency services were called to assist with storm damage, particularly in Portland, Warrnambool, and Doncaster, where specialist teams worked to secure hazardous debris. The Weather Bureau has indicated that cold conditions will persist across much of the country, with temperatures expected to remain well below average for several days.

Cold front brings destructive winds and snow to south-east Australia

Ice-cold winds whipping around the suburbs and the regions across Victoria, causing a mess. My wife woke up screaming and I ran outside, saw the tree and yeah, went back inside, checked on the kids. They were fine, thankfully. A close call for some. Last night was scary. In the Adelaide Hills, some were given quite the scare too. At Mount Hotham, some were snowed in, after another dumping overnight on the slopes. We've had incredible snow conditions up here at Hotham. We've had 77cm of fresh snow, the storm of the season and the base is up to a whopping 165cm. Mount Macedon saw a dusting too. Love it! Do you love it? Love it! In South Australia, snow fell at Mount Lofty and the Flinders Ranges, and at Orange in New South Wales, as a cold front swept through the country's southeast. In the last 24 hours, we've had the third or the strongest front that's moved across and brought particularly damaging winds. Huge gusts recorded in Victoria. The strongest gust was 128 at Mount Hotham, followed by 119 at Wilson's Prom, while in the Melbourne metro area, 106km per hour was recorded at St Kilda. Today, it was time to clean up. A specialist team called in to help at Doncaster. They'll rope off with harnesses and so forth to safely secure the sheet of metal that's dangling from the rooftop. In the 24 hours to 2.30 this afternoon, there were almost 1600 calls for assistance in Victoria. Portland and Warrnambool were among the busiest. As the front continues to move to the west, it will abate somewhat. The winds won't be as high, but we still are expecting some higher gusts probably up into that 60-70km an hour area. But the icy blast didn't stop some from taking a dip along the coast today. For those getting their hopes up for the start of spring, the Weather Bureau says the chilly conditions aren't over just yet. Cold air is expected to impact most of the country, including central Australia and the tropics, until at least midweek. Temperatures will be as low as 10 degrees below average by Monday through central parts of the country. Ashley Kanowski, 10 News.

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