Antarctic blast brings heavy snowfalls and huge swells to Australia’s south-east

Winds of up to 150km/h have battered Tasmania, with the wild weather leaving thousands without power

• Get our free news app; get our morning email briefing

Blizzards and hazardous swells have hit much of Australia's southeast as the Bureau of Meteorology issued surf and wind warnings for several states on Monday.

Coastlines along the south-east have been hammered by heavy swells and an Antarctic blast brought winds with speeds up to 150km/h in Tasmania. These winds cut off power to 20,000 homes across the state. More than 3500 properties were still without electricity on Monday.