Coldest start to winter in decades for eastern Australia with power grid under strain

Early June temperatures in Melbourne didn't go above 15 degrees for first time in 70 years as cold weather pattern starts to break

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Eastern Australia's giant cold snap is finally breaking down but not before temperatures reached lows not seen for seven decades or longer and pushed the country's main electricity grid to the brink.

The extended chill was caused by an unusual weather pattern that locked in cool pools of air over southern and eastern states, triggering the deepest snow dumps in the alps since 1968, according to Ben Domensino, a senior meteorologist at Weatherzone.