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The Guardian - AU
The Guardian - AU
National
Peter Hannam

Coldest start to winter in decades for eastern Australia with power grid under strain

Thick fog covers the city skyline of Melbourne
The chilly weather across south-east Australia may be starting to ease, as Melbourne experiences a record cold start to winter. Photograph: James Ross/AAP

Eastern Australia’s giant cold snap is finally breaking down but not before temperatures reached lows not seen for seven decades or longer and pushed the country’s main electricity grid to the brink.

The extended chill was caused by an unusual weather pattern that locked in cool pools of air over southern and eastern states, triggering the deepest snow dumps in the alps since 1968, according to Ben Domensino, a senior meteorologist at Weatherzone.

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