ROOFS have been ripped off as wild winter weather descends on four states with the worse set to come.

The Bureau of Meteorology (BOM) issued a slew of severe weather warnings on Monday morning as a cold front thundered across South Australia headed towards Victoria, Tasmania and parts of NSW threatening 120km/h peak gusts, heavy rain and thunderstorms.

Even before it arrived, Melburnians were waking up to winds of almost 100km/h.

The Herald Sun reported that a roof blew off a house in Apollo Bay, on the Great Ocean Road, while the Victorian State Emergency Service have responded to 17 calls for help.

Then there were the morning temperatures that felt like they were several degrees below freezing.

It’s midwinter and don’t we just know it. Parts of Australia sunk to their coldest temperatures of the year so far on Monday morning with the mercury dipping below zero in several capital cities.

As we approach Christmas in July, the chill will continue. In Canberra, temperatures sank to -7.4C at 7am, the coldest start to the day this year. As if that wasn’t freezing enough, the ‘feels like’ temperature was -10.4C,

In Camden, on Sydney’s south western fringe, it fell to -2.9C on Monday with a feels like temperature of -5C. Closer to the city, at Olympic Park, it felt like -0.5C at 7am.

Just a bit cold in Sydney this morning ❄️ pic.twitter.com/DvvWSmuxm4 — Cimmaron Sanders (@CimmaronSanders) July 22, 2018

its so cold in sydney omg — 🍌 (@ttaeqguk) July 22, 2018

Batten down the hatches, it'll be a windy one today, continuing tomorrow! Moorabbin Airport webcam shows a crazy windsock and a radiant sunrise. Highest gusts so far: 96km/h at Melbourne Airport & Mt William. #VicWeather Check the wind warning here: https://t.co/UytyiKCjDU pic.twitter.com/LAIekcR1CS — Bureau of Meteorology, Victoria (@BOM_Vic) July 22, 2018

A band of rain is moving into the northwest of #Tasmania. The afternoon and evening will be the wettest period about the northwest. There is a Flood Watch for catchments in the North.

Warnings at https://t.co/NHL3HY0zFO

Radar at https://t.co/LUdic0lNx6 — Bureau of Meteorology, Tasmania (@BOM_Tas) July 22, 2018

At Tullamarine Airport, in Melbourne, it was a cold morning for pre-dawn travellers with the apparent temperature of -7.4C at 6am almost 10 degrees cooler than the actual temperature. It was windy too, with a gust of 96km/h before dawn.

The BOM warned Victorians to “batten down the hatches” in a tweet as an approaching cold front brings damaging winds and possible storms throughout Monday.

At 9.35am, a gust of 106km/h was reported at Mt William in the state’s southwest.

Tasmania, South Australia and southern parts of NSW are also in the firing line of the wind and rain.

WINDS IN EXCESS OF 120KM/H

“Northerly winds are expected to strengthen ahead of a cold front that is expected to reach western Victoria (on Monday night),” the BOM said in a statement.

Major cities affected include Melbourne, Geelong, Warrnambool and Ballarat with rain possible most days this week.

“Damaging winds, averaging 60 to 70km/h with peak gusts of around 90km/h are possible and are expected in the west (on Monday) morning before extending to central and eastern areas during the afternoon and evening.”

On higher ground, and in areas affected by thunderstorms, winds could reach between 100 and 120km/h.

THUNDERSTORMS

In South Australia, Adelaide and much of the state’s southwest are at risk of gusts of up to 90km/h as the cold front passes on Monday.

“The strongest wind gusts are likely to occur with showers and thunderstorms near the front, peaking early (Monday) afternoon, and then extending eastwards to reach the Victorian border this evening,” the Bureau said.

A severe weather warning for winds is in place for NSW’s Snowy Mountains while a marine wind warning and flood watch is covering much of Tasmania.

Further north, things are milder. Much of NSW and Queensland should have a mostly sunny and dry week but those clear skies could lead to a continuation of the chilly mornings we’ve seen.

In Western Australia, the week is looking unsettled with heavy rain and a possible storm in Perth.

THE WEEK IN THE CAPITALS

Sydney

A mostly sunny week but possible showers leading into the weekend. Daytime highs of around 20-22C but mornings will remain chilly with frost away from the coast. Dawn lows of 8-9C all week.

Canberra

Partly cloudy with the chance of showers, the likelihood of which will increase during the week. Highs of 13-15C while it could get as cold as -1C during the night.

Melbourne

A windy and wet week, particularly on Monday and Tuesday, but the sun will make an appearance here and there. The warmest it will get is a wintry 15-16C. Lows of around 9C, colder in the inland suburbs.

Hobart

Showers on Monday and Tuesday followed by a cloudy week with sunny spells. It will progressively get chillier during the early hours as the week progresses, from a low of 7C on Tuesday morning to just 3C on Friday. Highs of 12-14C.

Adelaide

It could be a wet week for South Australia with rain spells every day, the heaviest being Monday and Thursday with up to 10mm falling. Monday could also be windy with gusts up to 45km/h as the cold front bustles its way through, possibly bringing with it a thunderstorm. It’ll warm up to 15-17C most days with overnight lows getting colder as with week goes on, to only 7C on Saturday.

Perth

An unsettled week in Perth with rain most days and a possible thunderstorm on Wednesday bringing 20mm of rain. Relatively mild with highs of 18-20C. Overnight 9-11C but just 6C early on Thursday.

Darwin

Warm and sunny and no rain. Highs around 32C and overnight should be in the low 20s all week.

Brisbane

Warm and sunny days of up to 26C for the week with little in the way of rain. Minimum temperatures of 9C on Tuesday rising to 14C by Saturday morning. Further north, Cairns could reach 28C during a dry week.