Lakes freeze across Tasmania as temperatures plummet

ABC NEWS (Australia)

An isolated town in Tasmania has recorded Australia’s coldest temperature so far this year Liawenee in the Central Highlands -- got down to minus 12.9 degrees overnight. It's the third coldest temperature ever recorded in Tasmania.

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00:00It's actually 5 degrees now, so I'd say it's actually quite balmy compared to what it was

00:06earlier.

00:07And as we travelled up from Hobart, it sort of ranged from 2 to 3 to 4, and I don't think

00:13it's going to get much warmer than this today.

00:15Liweeny is a tiny little town up in Tasmania's central highlands.

00:20It's got a permanent population of two, which is a police officer and an inland fisheries

00:26officer.

00:27Not many people live there, but it's got the claim to being Australia's coldest town that

00:31isn't an alpine area.

00:34And look, it just looked absolutely beautiful.

00:36There was snow and ice on the side of the road, all the gum trees had ice in them.

00:42We passed a lake that was just absolutely frozen solid and white, and there were a few

00:47swans on it trying to sort of find a tiny patch of water that wasn't frozen over.

00:53So look, it was a beautiful trip up, and I'm not sure if they're still behind me, but

00:57I just met some visitors from China who've driven up from Hobart today because they wanted

01:02to experience Australia's coldest day, and they were just behind me having a look at

01:07that ice that was around the edge of Great Lake behind me.

01:11The Bureau of Meteorology says it's caused by a cold system that came over southern Australia

01:16over the weekend, but Tasmania actually has a high pressure system over it at the moment,

01:21which is what brings this just gorgeous, stable weather.

01:24There's not a breath of wind, and look, the locals tell me that they don't feel the difference

01:30between minus six or minus twelve, and look, they're pretty used to it.

01:35But I called into the Great Lake Hotel on our way to Liweeny, and they've actually had

01:41some strife overnight because these icy temperatures actually caused their plumbing to burst.

01:46So they had to shut up shop today.

01:49So they invited us in, and they had the fire going, and they were trying to get it all

01:53fixed, hoping to open later today, and they told me that they've got some tourists from

01:57Indonesia coming tonight to stay in their accommodation because the cold temperatures

02:02up here are actually a real drawcard.

02:04People want to experience it.

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