Wild wintry weather turns deadly

A man has been killed by a falling tree in NSW, while wild winds have left thousands of homes without power across Australia's southeast.

cold weather

Source: Supplied

Wild, freezing weather buffeting Australia has turned deadly in NSW and left thousands of homes without power across the country's southeast.

The overnight cold front brought strong gales churning across much of NSW and snow to areas including the ACT and northwest Victoria.

Winds of up to 100km/h uprooted trees and caused more than 8000 power outages in the Illawarra region and Southern Highlands on Wednesday, killing one man.

The man was travelling on the Princes Motorway when a 20-metre gum tree fell and crushed the cab of his ute, trapping him, police say.

He died while paramedics were treating him at the scene.

Sydneysiders were also blasted by ice-cold winds while thousands of properties were left without power in Victoria.

More than 1300 homes lost power in Trentham after a fallen tree caused a conductor fault, while another 1000 properties went dark in South Gippsland.

Canberra didn't escape unscathed either as winds brought down power lines overnight, with emergency services called to more than 100 incidents.

While the chilly weather was bad news for city dwellers - skiers and snowboarders celebrated the change as 70cm of snow fell on Thredbo on Tuesday night.

A severe weather warning was cancelled for NSW but remains in place for the Gippsland area in Victoria and parts of Tasmania.

NSW coastal authorities have warned swimmers and rock fishermen of "deceptively powerful" surf conditions stretching up the coastline from Ulladulla to Tweed Heads.

The National Parks Service of NSW recommended people consider postponing country travel while police have also urged motorists to delay travelling through Jindabyne in the state's alpine region, as local roads remain treacherous with ice and snow.

Perth also shivered through its coldest July morning in four years, as the mercury dropped to 0.7C just after 6.15am on Wednesday but is expected to reach a high of 18 on Thursday.

Meanwhile, about 5000 homes remain without power in South Australia after days of fierce storms.

Up to 120,000 customers were cut off at the height of the weather.


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Source: AAP


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Wild wintry weather turns deadly | SBS News