Sunny Brisbane? No, it's Cold Coast

The Gold Coast and Brisbane are synonymous with bikini babes and fun under the sun.

Not recently. The swimsuits have given way to layers of knitwear as a cold snap on Saturday hit Brisbane so hard, it dropped to 2.6C at dawn.

That's the coldest in 103 years, according to media reports.

In the town of Toowoomba, the mercury hit 0C while frost covered cars and trees in Ipswich, about an hour's drive west of Brisbane. The west often records higher temperature than coastal towns.

The city of Brisbane - capital of Queensland - and Gold Coast's beaches and theme parks are among the most popular tourist destinations for Singaporeans.

It's also a popular place for Singaporean students with many enrolled at the University of Queensland and Queensland University of Technology, both in Brisbane.

The Singapore Armed Forces also conducts exercises in Rockhampton, about a five hour drive from Brisbane.

There is some good news though. The Weather Bureau reported that it is likely to go back to 15C, the regular temperature this time of the year.

Forecaster Greg Browning told The Courier Mail that the cold snap was caused by a substantial low level layer of cold air pushed up from Australia's south.

The dense cloud cover meant the sun also couldn't help Brisbane stay nice and warm.

Source: The Courier Mail, Brisbane Times, ABC Online

Photos: Twitter, Instagram