Perth woke to a bitter morning on 24 May 2026, with the city dropping to 2.5C at 6:56am, its coldest May temperature in seven years. The chill stretched across the metro area, with single-digit readings along the coast and subzero temperatures further inland.

The cold snap was sharpest in Wandering, about 110km southeast of Perth, where the temperature fell to -3.2C at 6:59am. That was the town’s coldest May reading in 14 years, underscoring how widespread the overnight chill was across the region.

Calm winds and clear skies overnight helped temperatures tumble before sunrise. Perth’s last May morning this cold was on 19 May 2019, and the latest reading marked a rare return to winterlike conditions for late autumn.

The cold is expected to ease quickly. Mornings were forecast to trend warmer from 25 May, even as Perth braces for a significant rain event midweek. That shift will bring a more unsettled stretch after a morning that was cold enough to stand out by any May standard.