Eastern states expected to soak up the last of the warm weather this week

Many Australians have sombrely peered out their windows in the last few days, fearing the cold snap sweeping across the east means the last of the warm weather has passed.Adding to the frustration has been the social distancing measures to contain the spread of the coronavirus which have locked the population indoors, forbidding bored masses from enjoying the sun and sand at the beach.
But a warm patch is on its way from Western Australia, bringing above average temperatures by the end of the week for a final blast of heat before winter sets in.
Sydney is expected to reach 27 degrees and sunny on both Friday and Saturday while Melbourne is forecast to hit a weekly high on Thursday of a mostly sunny 21 degrees.
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Bureau of Meteorology senior meteorologist Grace Legge said the worst of the cold snap has made its way out to sea, leaving a thin cover of snow at empty ski fields in Victoria and New South Wales.
“The high is sitting in the (Great Australian) Bight at the moment so most of the eastern parts of Australia and central parts are just getting that southerly wind continuing, bring a much colder air mass up from the south,” she told news.com.au.
“Whereas Western Australia gets the northerly side of that, so they get warmer air coming from the north down through the south east of the state, which allows it to remain a little bit above average.
“Over the next couple of days, that heat will start moving to the east as that high starts moving there as well.”
The warmer front will travel to the east of WA tomorrow and then work its way across South Australia. By Wednesday or Thursday, much of Australia will be at average to above average temperatures.
Adelaide is expected to follow a similar pattern to its chilly neighbour Melbourne, peaking at 22 degrees on Wednesday and then scattered showers from Thursday through to Saturday.
Perth will cool off from its high today of 29, falling to 19 by the end of the week, while the sunshine state will deliver warmth throughout the week.
Brisbane is forecast to sit in the mid-20s each day this week, where many Queenslanders have already risked hefty fines to enjoy the beach this weekend.
Queensland has loosened its strict social distancing measures aimed at limiting the spread of coronavirus but has still been forced to hand out whopping fines, costing those who have flouted the rules more than $2 million so far.
From Saturday, residents could travel up to 50km from their home to shop, visit a park or even go to the drive-in and residents flocked to the beach as the sun shone down.
However, they could only move about with members of their household and they also had to retain social distancing measures.
Yet police still handed out 32 on-the-spot fines for $1334 on Saturday. So far 1664 on-the-spot fines for COVID-19 related infringements have been issued, totalling more than $2.19 million.