Victorians, Tasmanians and South Australians have shivered through another frosty day with temperatures dipping well below zero in some parts but relief from the icy cold snap is on the horizon.

The coldest temperature across the country was -13.5 degrees at Liawenee in central Tasmania just before 5am on Thursday.

Forecaster Weatherzone said it was Tasmania’s second-coldest night on record.

Liawenee, which is on Tasmania’s Central Plateau, bills itself as “Australia’s coldest town” – although it has only two residents.

“So not too many folk would have suffered through last night’s extreme cold,” Weatherzone wrote.

In Hobart, Mount Wellington fell to a low of -1.9 degrees just before 7am.

A road weather warning remained for much of Tasmania into Thursday afternoon due to dangerous conditions created by icy roads. Drivers were told to be alert on the north-west coast, central-north, north-east, Central Plateau, Midlands, east coast and Upper Derwent Valley.

Further north, thick fog blanketed parts of Victoria on Thursday, including Melbourne, where temperatures dropped to -2.1 degrees in Coldstream in the city’s east.

From frost to fog! Wonder what tomorrow will bring at HQ ☁️ 🥶 pic.twitter.com/juOzJPryxl

— Victoria Racing Club (@FlemingtonVRC) July 3, 2024

It was the second day of an icy snap gripping much of south-eastern Australia. In SA, Adelaide’s West Terrace weather station recording a temperature of just 0.6 degrees at 7.35am on Wednesday – equal to the lowest recorded in the same spot since July 24, 1908.

Also on Wednesday, the Nullarbor weather station near the SA-Western Australian border fell as low as -3.2 degrees – an annual minimum temperature record.

In the Adelaide metropolitan region, Noarlunga dropped to 2.2 degrees, a minimum temperature record for July.

Bureau of Meteorology senior forecaster Chris Kent said some regional areas were experiencing minimum temperatures eight to 10 degrees below their July average.

He said temperatures in metropolitan Adelaide were 4 to 6 degrees below average.

“There’s a high-pressure system – a strong high-pressure system – well south of Australia at the moment,” he told InDaily.

“This is driving a lot of cold air from well south of the continent up over the southern states.

“That’s also combining with clear skies and also very light winds leading to perfect conditions for getting really cold temperatures in the overnight period.”

Another cold, icy morning across southern & central Australia has led to widespread frost. Cold mornings will start to ease across parts of SA, NSW, Vic from Friday. Frost is likely again across part of Tas, eastern Vic & southern NT tomorrow.
Latest: https://t.co/4W35o8iFmh pic.twitter.com/8VaBdfQnjZ

— Bureau of Meteorology, Australia (@BOM_au) July 4, 2024

BoM community information officer Brooke Pagel said temperatures on the ground on Thursday morning may have been even colder than official figures, with “feels like” temperatures often recorded as several degrees lower.

“Temperatures at ground level can be many degrees lower than those recorded by standard weather stations, especially in these calm conditions with very clear skies,” Pagel said.

Milder conditions were expected on Friday morning, she said.

The bureau forecasts patchy morning fog and frost in Victoria and Tasmania on Friday with higher overnight temperatures.

-with AAP