Delays at Melbourne and Sydney airports, Frankston pier ripped from its moorings and snow at the AFL as polar blast strikes

This article is more than 1 year old

This article is more than 1 year old

Icy winds up to 120km/h, snow, wild surf and rain continued to lash South Australia, Victoria and parts of New South Waleson Friday, and snow fell at the AFL in Canberra.

The “strongest weather system this winter” to hit south-east Australia has continued its path of carnage across the country, grounding flights in Sydney and Melbourne, and leading to hundreds of calls to the State Emergency Service across all three states.

Victorian police said a woman died after a tree fell onto a car in Fernshaw, Yarra Ranges, on Friday morning. The car carrying two adults and two children was travelling along Maroondah highway when a gum tree fell on the moving car just after 9.30am. The front passenger died at the scene.

One child was airlifted to hospital with life-threatening injuries and the other was taken by ambulance to hospital with minor injuries. The male driver was airlifted to hospital in a critical condition.

In Newcastle, gale-force winds ripped the roof off an aged care facility, and overnight Victoria registered 120km/h winds at Cape Otway, 98km/h at Warrnambool, and even 87km/h along Melbourne’s seaside suburbs.

Bureau of Meteorology, Victoria (@BOM_Vic) Not a morning to ride to work! The bike path at Brighton battered by a storm surge and wind gusts up to 87 km/hr. Photo @windjunky - latest warnings https://t.co/mMvr0NqeCD pic.twitter.com/jFAm0KD2QR

On the Mornington Peninsula, residents awoke to find the Frankston pier breaking from its moorings and floating out to sea.

Chris R (@Chrissa) The end of Frankston Pier has snapped off and is floating away @3AW693 pic.twitter.com/OB49PjS8z6

One local resident, Sharyn Murdoch, told Guardian Australia: “The Frankston pier snapped off and I saw it floating by near Waves Restaurant.

“We saw the end of it dropping at about 9am. Then it started drifting past at about 9.30am. It gave us all something to talk about at work. More novel than all the dolphins we see.”

On Friday afternoon, an SES spokesman said Parks Victoria “have now secured that pier on the land”.

Hawthorn and Greater Western Sydney AFL footballers were bracing for icy conditions at Manuka Oval on Friday night. It was about 3C on the field ahead of kick-off and soon there was snow coming down thick.

The crowd roared as the snow began to fall at the end of the first quarter as the “feels-like” temperature dipped well below zero. Hawthorn coach Alistair Clarkson famously does not allow his players to wear long-sleeve jumpers and did not lift the ban in Canberra.

Channel 7 (@Channel7) It's snowing at the footy in Canberra!



Enjoy #AFLGiantsHawks in the comfort of your home LIVE on 7 and 7mate! pic.twitter.com/xUYOuxum8Q

On Friday morning the bureau said the worst of the Melbourne winds – which were predicted to be up to 110km/h – would ease after 9am, even as the rain moved in.

But in Sydney, the bureau said gusts would pick up – with winds up to 90km/h “likely from mid-morning”.

More than 180 domestic flights had been cancelled by 6pm on Friday at Sydney airport and 45 flights at Melbourne airport.

Snow fell at Mt Macedon in central Victoria on Friday.

Tiffany Warner (@WarnerTiff) It’s a snow day in #macedon Woo Hoo ❄️⛄️❄️⛄️ @ParksVictoria pic.twitter.com/d4CL3VAK68

In Stockton near Newcastle, local media reported that the roof of the Wescott Presbyterian aged care centre was blown off, with nobody hurt.

7NEWS Sydney (@7NewsSydney) Stockton: More than 80 square metres of roofing has lifted off the Wescott Community Care centre by high winds. Emergency services are relocating the residents. #7NEWS https://t.co/cm6BpwLF2P

In Victoria the State Emergency Service had 600 calls in 24 hours. In NSW, the SES received more than 720 requests on Friday.

At Mount Barker in South Australia, a police officer entered a fast-flowing creek on Thursday night to rescue a woman in her 50s who had fallen in while checking on stock. The woman had been in the water for about 40 minutes when police arrived on the scene and she was spotted clinging to a tree branch.

“Police had no time to wait for extra resources, and with the assistance of a neighbour and the woman’s husband, an officer tied a rope around his waist and entered the water,” a spokesperson said.

“He was able to reach the woman and pull her safely from the water.”

The woman was unhurt and was treated at the scene by ambulance officers.

'Thundersnow' weather forecast as icy blast sweeps South Australia, NSW, and Victoria Read more

Severe weather warnings remain in place for SA, Victoria and NSW. Damaging winds are predicted for most of Victoria. Blizzard conditions were expected across alpine areas on Friday, with snow expected above 500 metres and flurries possible for the Dandenong Ranges.

Icy temperatures were also set to continue across the state, with Melbourne headed for a top of 11C, but strong winds were likely to make it feel much colder.

“It doesn’t really improve across the weekend,” Bureau of Meteorology senior forecaster Michael Efron said, with Melbourne set to hit just 11C again on Saturday, Ballarat 7C and Bendigo 10C.

Bureau of Meteorology, Victoria (@BOM_Vic) For the late night viewers - a deep low pressure system bringing severe weather to the southern states is tracking eastwards into Bass Strait. The speckled cloud to the West indicates a very cold and unstable air mass 🌨️⛈️💨 Warnings and forecasts: https://t.co/74wrWmT1mx pic.twitter.com/hClznfCZTI

More wintry weather was also forecast for NSW, after blizzards swept through the Snowy Mountains on Thursday. A severe weather warning has been updated, with damaging winds hitting the Snowy Mountains and the Illawarra regions.

Mt Buller in Victoria had 29cm of snow accumulate overnight with steady snowfall forecast across the weekend. Skiers and snowboarders were preparing to test out some advanced terrain and 20 lifts were expected to operate on Saturday.