Arabic version: شرق أستراليا يستعد للحر والعواصف والثلوج

According to ABC News, a powerful front is set to bring a broad mix of weather across eastern Australia this weekend, including potential early-September heat records in Brisbane and Sydney, damaging winds, thunderstorms, flooding rain and alpine snow.

Sydney’s maximum temperatures over the first five days of September are on course to match the city’s midsummer average of 26.4 degrees Celsius. Most suburbs were forecast to reach 32C or 33C, up to 13 degrees above the September average and above the Observatory Hill record of 31.1C for the first week of spring, set in 2013. Temperatures above 30C were also expected across much of southern Queensland and New South Wales.

Hot, dry winds and low soil moisture along the NSW coast were expected to lift fire danger. Greater Sydney faced its first predicted “extreme” fire danger day of the season and a total fire ban, while the Illawarra, Hunter and parts of the state’s north were forecast for “high” fire danger. A cooler change was expected to move through eastern and northern NSW overnight, with cooler air forecast for south-east Queensland on Sunday night.

The front made landfall on the South Australian coast overnight and was forecast to move rapidly through Victoria and southern NSW. Gusts along parts of the coast and ranges could reach about 100 kilometres per hour, with isolated thunderstorms possible across central and eastern Victoria and the NSW central and southern slopes and ranges. Rainfall in northern Tasmania and the Victorian and NSW alpine region was expected to prompt river rises, with a flood watch for 10 catchments and a chance of isolated moderate flooding in higher-rainfall parts of north-east Victoria. As rain eases, colder air was forecast to bring light snow to the higher Alps overnight.