![Santa at the beach](https://the-riotact.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/12/iStock-1177569898-1200x801.jpg)
Canberra’s Christmas Day forecast doesn’t appear to have sunny skies on the horizon. Photo: File.
Canberra is finally getting a break from the summer heat, but Christmas Day backyard cricket could get rained out.
The Bureau of Meteorology has released its early Christmas forecast, which shows a stormy 25 December is possible for much of eastern Australia.
“An onshore wind looks to bring partly or mostly cloudy conditions to much of coastal NSW, including Sydney, with some showers likely and some storms possible,” senior meteorologist Angus Hines said.
“We may see one or two of these showers or storms reach inland as far as Canberra – although rain looks reasonably unlikely for the nation’s capital.”
At the moment, Canberra is looking at a partly cloudy Christmas Day with a medium chance of showers and easterly winds of 15 to 25 km per hour.
A minimum temperature of 13 degrees Celsius has been forecast before a maximum of 24 degrees Celsius.
But don’t take these predictions as absolute gospel just yet.
“With Christmas still a week away, the forecast is subject to change, however, Australia can start preparing for the festive season with the likely weather in mind,” Mr Hines said.
As Canberrans make their final Christmas plans this week, we’re getting some reprieve from theheatwave conditions we experiencedat the start of the month.
Both day and night-time temperatures are taking a dive from Wednesday (20 December), which could be a shock for visitors who had been packing their lightest summer clothes.
While Tuesday (19 December) has a predicted top of 32 degrees Celsius (after 16 degrees Celsius overnight) that’s set to change as a trough moves from southwestern NSW through southern and western areas today.
This is forecast to trigger widespread showers and storms, which could mean 20 to 40 millimetres fall over the Canberra region.
A storm is possible in the afternoon or evening.
Wednesday will see a dramatic drop in temperatures with a high of just 19 degrees forecast, before a steady increase in temperatures and more rain possible before Christmas Day.
Weather predictions will continue to become more accurate throughout the week and Canberrans have been advised to keep an eye on the forecast as we get closer to 25 December.