Spring sunshine to deliver hot weather for south-east Queensland

In short:

Warmer temperatures are on the way for south-east Queensland as spring arrives. 

Figures from the weather bureau show winter rainfall has been mixed across the state.

What's next?

A maximum of 33 degrees is forecast for Brisbane on Friday.

Temperatures will rise across Queensland this week as spring's arrival delivers warmer weather.

Parts of the state's south-east could hit highs of 33 degrees Celsius by the weekend, according to the Bureau of Meteorology.

"At the moment the main thing driving our weather is a large high-pressure system over southern Australia, and that's drifting slowly eastwards," forecaster James Pescott said.

"As we start spring, the temperatures will rise really from midweek as that high-pressure system weakens and we have a weak trough system move across southern Queensland.

"That will drag some warmer temperatures from inland … down to the south-east and the east coast later in the week with those temperatures getting above 30 degrees."

There are scattered coastal showers forecast for eastern districts until Tuesday.

"There's not a lot of rainfall in those showers," Mr Pescott said.

"Those rainfall totals will gradually ease by midweek, and then the story after that becomes around heat."

Maximum temperatures for Brisbane could reach 33C by Friday, with 29C forecast for the Gold and Sunshine coasts, and 35C for Longreach and Mount Isa.

Mr Pescott said maximums for the south-east could even reach into the "mid 30s" into the weekend.

Water temperatures at the region's beaches are about 20C, which is typical for this time of year.

Winter rainfall mixed

As winter wraps up, the rainfall totals across Queensland have been patchy.

Parts of the state have been bone-dry with far less rain than usual, while other areas have been much wetter than average.

The bureau said Townsville has received just four millimetres since the start of June, making it the region's driest winter in nearly 20 years.

Only a bit further north, the stretch between Cairns and Tully has had up to 160 per cent of its winter average.

Even within one region, the difference can be stark.

The Sunshine Coast Airport has had its wettest winter since 2016, with 284mm falling since June 1, or about 15 per cent more than the winter average of 248mm.

But just 41 kilometres away in Beerburrum, the rain gauge has only collected 126mm this quarter — well below the long-term average of 181mm, and making it the lowest winter total since 2023.