Weather conditions causing delays across Australia

We hope everyone is staying safe and warm this season!

As we roll into winter here in Australia, we can expect the weather to be colder and wetter throughout the season. However, national weather warnings are coming from the Bureau of Meteorology due to severe flooding, heavy rainfall, power outages and even hail and snowfall in some areas of Australia.

(Image source: 9 News)

Due to these weather conditions, there are a lot of delays for couriers and suppliers since many routes between NSW, VIC and QLD are flooded, have significant damage due to rain and wind or have very bad weather conditions that prevent them from dispatching or organizing couriers.

Australia Post has also been affected by this, with a number of post offices being closed across VIC due to flooding or loss of power which is affecting postal services all around Australia.

The conditions come after severe wintry weather slammed much of Australia's southeast, with damaging winds, heavy rain, thunderstorms, flooding, widespread snow, and hail overnight.

Several roads in the state's Central West have been closed due to snow and ice.

The Mitchell Highway is closed between Northern Distributor Road in Orange and Millthorpe Road in Shadforth.

The Escort Way is closed between Northern Distributor Road in Orange and Peabody Road in Boree.

(Image source: 9 News)

Snow is also falling across the upper Blue Mountains this morning with Katoomba, Blackheath and Mount Victoria receiving their first sprinkle of snow for the season this morning.

Frost risk is high to severe in most areas across the region with drivers warned of black ice and dangerous driving conditions.

Snow is expected to continue to fall above an elevation of about 900 metres in southern NSW this afternoon, with another 10 centimetres likely in the Alps, according to Weather zone.

Locations at lower elevations including the lower Blue Mountains and Greater Sydney are forecast to receive showers today with temperatures in the city unlikely to get above 11C.

(Image source: Meriton Suites)

Drivers across NSW have been warned to postpone travel plans as the severe weather creates treacherous driving conditions in the lead-up to the long weekend.

In the past 24 hours, there were more than 2000 reports of damages, about 500 reports of trees down, about 500 reports of building damage, and about 150 calls for help in areas where there is severe flooding.

A severe weather warning is spanning across Victoria all the way from Sale to Ballarat.

South to south-easterly winds with gusts of up to 90km/h will continue across Melbourne this morning, decreasing to 25 to 40km/h in the afternoon and 15 to 20km/h in the late evening.