Umbrellas or barbecues: Christmas weather forecast gifts mixed bag for Australians

Wildly different weather is on the way across Australia for Christmas Day, as a clearer picture emerges of the forecast for celebrations on Thursday.

The Bureau of Meteorology has tipped Perth, at 41C, and Brisbane, 35C, to swelter through the hottest conditions of Australia’s capital cities.

Further south, residents in Melbourne and Hobart may have to break out their winter woollies with forecast tops of 17C and 16C respectively.

“If Melbourne only reaches 17C, it will be Melbourne’s coldest Christmas Day since 2006,” senior meteorologist Jonathan How told AAP. “Quite the extremes across both ends of the country.”

There is a chance of a shower in Melbourne in the morning, while wet weather is also forecast across western Tasmania.

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“We could even see some light snow flurries about the elevated country on Christmas morning,” How said.

Conditions will be “very muggy” in Brisbane and the city could be hit by a shower or thunderstorm in the afternoon.

Storms and rain are forecast from the above the Sunshine Coast to Cairns, across most of the Northern Territory and over Western Australia’s Kimberley region.

Darwin and Cairns have predicted maximum temperatures in the low 30s, while the mercury is slated to reach the low to mid 40s in parts of WA’s Pilbara.

Milder weather is forecast for Adelaide, with a maximum temperature of 25C expected on Christmas Day and 29C on Boxing Day.

Sydney and Canberra will also be in the sweet spot, with slightly warmer tops in the mid 20s.

The huge variance in daily temperatures stems from a high-pressure system hovering over the Great Australian Bight, which is not uncommon for this time of year.

“It just comes down to timing and unfortunately the coolest day of the week coincides with Christmas Day across Victoria and Tasmania,” he said.

“It’s warming up after that – for the Boxing Day Test it will be dry and we will see the sun coming out for the afternoon at the MCG.

“For Melbourne and certainly the south-east of the country, it will start to warm up heading into next weekend.”

Heatwave conditions are persisting in eastern and north-eastern NSW, and southern and south-east Queensland on Sunday.

Penrith and Richmond to Sydney’s west were headed for projected tops in the low 40s, as were the NSW centres of Newcastle, Tamworth, Moree and Narrabri.

Temperatures across south-east Queensland are expected to peak on Monday or Tuesday.

Total fire bans have been declared for Sunday in five NSW districts, as well as the Mallee in Victoria’s west.

At the same time, severe thunderstorm warnings have been issued for parts of Victoria’s east and north-east as well as western NSW.

Communities in Mildura, Swan Hill, Euroa, Shepparton, Mansfield, Wangaratta, Corryong and Albury-Wodonga have been told to brace for heavy rain, destructive winds and possible tornadoes. Broken Hill, Menindee and Fowlers Gap were also in the firing line of potential heavy rain, damaging winds and large hailstones.