Atlantic Canada is under widespread weather warnings for snow, freezing rain and strong winds as a winter storm moves across the region. In Newfoundland, up to 40cm of snow fell on Sunday, along with wind gusts of about 74mph, creating blizzard-like conditions.

The storm began late on Sunday and is forecast to persist until Tuesday morning. Freezing rain warnings are in place across Nova Scotia, including Annapolis and Kings counties, while parts of New Brunswick could get up to 25cm of snow on Monday.

Power outages, falling branches, and hazardous road conditions are expected. The severe weather is driven by two low-pressure systems merging over the region.

Freezing rain occurs when precipitation falls as rain through a layer of warm air aloft before passing into a shallow layer of sub-zero air near the ground. The raindrops become supercooled as they pass through this layer, and freeze instantly on contact with roads, trees and power lines, rapidly forming a smooth, often invisible layer of ice.

In Australia, Tropical Cyclone Koji formed in the Coral Sea off Queensland’s north coast over the weekend, making landfall as a category 1 system between Ayr and Bowen on Sunday.

The storm brought heavy rain and damaging winds, with gusts above 70mph recorded at Hamilton Island. Koji has since weakened to a tropical low but continues to produce severe weather, including winds of up to 59mph and widespread heavy rain.

About 200mm fell in 24 hours in some areas, with much higher totals near Mackay, including 362mm in the Clarke Range, and 370mm at Cattle Creek. Ex-tropical cyclone Koji has caused flooding, road closures, and power outages affecting about 22,000 people, and is forecast to move south-south-westwards through Queensland, bringing further heavy rain reaching in excess of 150mm in places, and an increased risk of flash flooding.

Southern Australia experienced one of its most intense heatwaves on record late last week, peaking on Saturday. New South Wales recorded its hottest conditions in years as strong north-westerly winds drove hot air from the outback towards the east coast. Temperatures in parts of Syndey reached 43C, surpassing the previous record of 42.5C set in 2018.

Extreme heat extended across much of the state, with several regions exceeding 40C, pushing fire danger to critical levels amid low humidity and strong winds.

The heat broke abruptly as cooler southerly winds arrived, with temperatures in Melbourne dropping by about 13C in 40 minutes on Friday, before the cooler winds spread farther north by the end of the weekend.