Wintry blast for NSW as snow falls in mountains and Sydney hit by rain - as bushfires burn in north
Parts of NSW have been blanketed in snow, as a blast of winter returned to parts of the east coast.
Snowfall in the Blue Mountains, including the towns of Katoomba and Blackheath, saw children have snowball fights and go sledding.
Elsewhere, heavy rain in Sydney gave commuters a miserable journey to work.
Parts of NSW have experienced substantial snowfall, weeks into the spring weather. 9News
Sledges were an essential in the Blue Mountains this morning. Nine
Record rainfall has fallen on some parts of Sydney and the ACT.
Canberra had 32mm of rain overnight, and Penrith had 19mm.
That's the heaviest rain in six months according to Weatherzone.
Some drought-stricken areas have had some rain, though many have missed out.
Dubbo had a sprinkling of 7mm overnight and this morning.
Snowball fights in the Blue Mountains Nine
Rain will continue for Sydney all day, easing into showers tomorrow and Thursday.
The city – which enjoyed a balmy 29 degrees yesterday – will have a high of just 14 degrees today.
Snow has also fallen on the southern and central ranges in NSW as well as Canberra.
Snow falling in the NSW town of Blackheath in the Blue Mountains near Sydney. Nine
Meanwhile, in northern NSW there are hopes heavy rain will help ease bushfires.
Parts of south-east NSW have already recorded 50mm of rain and the system is expected to soak Newcastle on the central coast as it tracks north.
There is a 50 per cent chance the rain will reach Tenterfield in northern NSW where a fierce blaze is burning.
Snow in the NSW Blue Mountains Nine
Snow showers in Canberra as the national capital shivers through plunging temperatures. Nine
It is threatening areas around Drake, Red Rock Road and Rover Park, north of the Bruxner Highway.
The fire has burnt through more than 59,000ha.
Meanwhile, dry and gusty weather forecast for Queensland today has triggered an increased fire warning in the state's south-east.
A computer generated projection of the heavy rain forecast to fall across NSW until late Thursday. (WeatherZone). Twitter
Smoke haze from local bushfires obscures the skyline on the beach at Surfers Paradise on the Gold Coast. Dry, gusty thunderstorms are forecast to sweep through tinder-dry southeast Queensland. AAP
Blustery showers and thunderstorms are forecast to accompany the wind change. Fire crews are worried the conditions could spark new blazes.
It comes amid a horror start to the fire season with 66 blazes burning in NSW and Queensland.
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