CANBERRA has experienced its coldest start to autumn in 15 years, according to The Weather Channel.

However, weather is expected to warm-up over the weekend. In the past week, Canberra temperatures have dropped more than 20 degrees in one day, in one day dropping from 26C down to 0C.

“The cold-snap has provided the coldest weather this early in autumn for many years. For Sydney and Canberra it has been the coldest in 15 years while in Brisbane the coldest in four,” senior meteorologist Tom Saunders said.

“The dramatic plunge from warm weather to frost and snow was due to the passage of a very cold airmass from deep in the Southern Ocean to south-eastern Australia.

“The good news is almost as quickly as the cold-snap hit, warmer weather is now returning and most of Australia will enjoy a mostly sunny weekend with maximum temperatures in the mid to high 20s.

“Thankfully a spell of cold weather in mid-autumn is not an indication of an impending long, cold winter. Then again the warm weather that follows is not an indication of a warm winter.”