Weather in Sydney, Melbourne, Brisbane: Within a few hours there will be a polar explosion

A cold gust of air rising from the ocean south of Australia will cause one of the coldest snaps of the year in the country’s lower east.

The cold front will hit South Australia, Victoria and parts of New South Wales with freezing temperatures, damaging winds, light snowfall and gusts of wind that will add a wintry feel to early spring.

“On Thursday the cold front will bring gusts and significant wind chills, so it will be as cold as 7C,” Weatherzone meteorologist Corine Brown told Daily Mail Australia.

The blast of cold air will hit South Australia on Thursday and Victoria on Friday (pictured)

After a warm winter, much of South Africa, Victoria and New South Wales are heading for a frigid weekend

Weatherzone said the cold snap was in stark contrast to the mild winter that much of the country has been experiencing in recent months.

“On Friday as the system advances into Victoria, temperatures will be about the same with a wind chill felt of 7C and this will continue through Saturday.”

“Sydney will be slightly warmer on Friday, around 12C, but there will most likely be thunderstorms as the cold front meets the warmer air ahead.”

“On Saturday there will be a lot of cold, dry air lingering behind the front over Victoria and that will bring cool mornings.”

Cold air will not reach the top half of the country, but southern Queensland and central Australia will reach the edges of the system, resulting in cold mornings.

Weatherzone said showers could develop over WA, SA, Victoria, Tasmania, NSW and Queensland as the weekend approaches as it could lead to snowfall in the Alpine region, parts of Victoria and Tasmania.

Some storms could become severe as a squall line could develop over NSW on the leading edge of the cold front, bringing hurricane force winds and lightning.

There could also be an increased risk of fire as winds kick up warmer air ahead of the cold front.

Mercury will peak at just 14C in Adelaide on Friday and drop to as low as 5C early Saturday morning.

Melbourne will hit a high of 12C on Friday, dropping to 7C early Saturday morning.

Sydney will hit at least 8 degrees early Saturday morning, while Canberra will experience significant frosts of -2C.

On the edge of the system, Brisbane will see a minimum overnight temperature of 15C on Friday, while Alice Springs will drop to a minimum of 4C overnight.

The cold front will move over Perth earlier in the week bringing cool temperatures with highs of around 20C on Wednesday and Thursday.

Darwin will be unaffected by the system and it will be hot and sunny over the weekend with highs in the low to mid 30s.

The cold front will meet warmer air ahead of it, causing storms in New South Wales on Friday

The cold weather system could also bring snowfalls to the Australian Alps over the weekend (Image: Perisher Resort)

The average ski season this year could have a late burst of fresh snow this weekend (Image: Thredbo Resort)