Cold snap breaks record

Swan Hill shivered early Monday as the mercury plunged to single figures, recording its coldest night on record for February. 

The regional city was forced to rug up beneath the doona covers when the minimum temperature dipped to 5.5 degrees at 6.53am. 

The chilly morning made it the coldest night on record for February since records began at the Swan Hill Aerodrome in 1996. 

Bureau of Meteorology Victoria senior meteorologist Dean Stewart said summer seemed to have disappeared last weekend. 

“We had a very cold burst of air coming up from the Southern Ocean across Victoria and that led to temperatures six to 10 degrees below average,” he said. 

“Melbourne just recorded a maximum of 17.3 degrees on Monday, which was their coldest February day since 2005.”

It was cold enough for snow to fall over the Alpine areas. 

Swan Hill welcomed reprieve last week after sweltering in four consecutive hot days, between February 8 and 11, where temperatures exceeded 40 degrees.