Across South Australia, Victoria and NSW people shivered awake yesterday morning to a clear but chilly day with temperatures up to 10 degrees below average.

Sydney and Melbourne were both 3 degrees below average, while Adelaide was 11 degrees, 6 degrees below average.

For some areas the cold snap has brought the coldest January temperatures in years.

Maitland in the Hunter region of NSW recorded 8 degrees, 10 degrees below average, their coldest January morning in 12 years.

Glen Innes, also in NSW, recorded 5 degrees, 8 degrees below average, making it their coldest January in 38 years.

Coonamble felt their coldest January morning in 93 years, while Armidale dropped to a wintry low of just 3 degrees.

The dry but chilly weather has been brought by a Tasman low drawing cold air from the Southern Ocean across the southeast of Australia.

But don't put away your summer clothes yet as temperatures will heat up again on Thursday as a mass of hot air will push into the eastern states from the interior of Australia.