Sydney and Brisbane endure some of their coldest May nights in decades

Parts of Sydney and Brisbane have experienced their lowest May temperatures in decades, with Australia's east coast having felt an exceptionally cold final month of autumn.

The minimum temperature in Amberley, south-west of Brisbane, fell to 5.2 degrees before 9am yesterday, marking the lowest minimum May temperature in records dating back to 1942, according to Weatherzone.

The average May temperature in the area is 10 degrees.

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Similarly, the average temperature at Brisbane Airport this month was as low as 10.6 degrees, which is also the coldest average recorded in data dating back to 1950.

In Sydney, the average minimum temperature at Observatory Hill up to 9am yesterday was 10 degrees, which was 1.6 degrees below average and the city’s lowest May minimum temperature since 1957.

The city's western suburbs were even colder, with Richmond Airport's average monthly minimum of 4.4 degrees also the lowest for May since 1957, according to Weatherzone.

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Weatherzone meteorologist Ben Domensino has explained that "May is typically a time of cooling in eastern Australia as autumn draws to a close and wintry weather becomes more frequent" but this May has been abnormally cold.

"A series of large high pressure systems centred over and to the southwest of Australia this month have caused a persistent stream of cold air to flow across southeastern and eastern Australia," he said.

"These persistent high pressure systems over Australia have also caused an abundance of clear skies and relatively light winds during May, creating the perfect conditions for unusually low overnight temperatures."

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