‘First proper day of winter’: snow and hail blanket parts of NSW and ACT as cold front settles across south-east

The Ahmed family from Canberra play in the snow at Picadilly Circus on the Brindabella Road in the Brindabella mountains outside Canberra. Photograph: Mike Bowers/The Guardian

Canberra residents have described Sunday as the “first proper day of winter” after snow and hail fell on parts of the city, as a cold front brought cooler temperatures to parts of south-eastern Australia.

Rain, hail and snow fell across parts of New South Wales and the ACT, and though temperature lows are not breaking records just yet, Bureau of Meteorology forecaster Gabrielle Woodhouse said “we are entering some of the cooler days seen so far this year”.