Snow falls in south of Australia just days out from Summer

Only four days out from the start of summer, snow has fallen in the southern Australian state of Tasmania, continuing a month of wildly fluctuating temperatures.

The cold snap comes just four weeks after the state experienced record heatwaves, which included four days of 29 degrees Celsius during October, the first time such a sequence has occurred since records began in 1882.

And on Friday, the weather extremes continued with snow falling across the south and the west of the state on Thursday night.

Weather forecaster Alex Molitsis said that the snow was widespread overnight and would continue in the high altitude areas for the rest of the day.

"Down to around 800 metres, and that's gradually lifting during the day today," he told the Australian Broadcasting Corporation (ABC) on Friday.

"We're still seeing some light showers about those areas, but the snow line is rising up to about 1,000 metres and above."

Areas of the state experienced wind gusts of up to 125km/h, with the state's capital, Hobart, receiving gusts as strong as 98km/h.

The heat and dry conditions also brought about more than 20 bushfires in the state during October, prompting total fire ban days following the hottest start to spring on record. Endit