Forecasters have said the cold spell is likely to press the pause button for much of the south of the country which has been in shiver mode over the last week.

But there’s a sting in the tail — while the mercury may be going up, so will your umbrellas with weekend rain on the horizon.

If you’re in Perth, you won’t have to wait until the weekend to see the rain. Western Australia’s long wet winter continues with little rest.

And it’s bad news for the ski resorts. While many are “desperate for snow” there is no immediate prospect of a heavy covering of powder.

“The polar air is starting to ease in the south replaced with subtropical air that is much warmer air drifting down from northern Australia to the south east,” Sky News Weather channel meteorologist Tom Saunders said on Wednesday morning.

“As a result we will see minimum and maximum temperatures climb above average … so we can thaw out.”

The run of frosty mornings the south east has been having should take a break in the coming days apart from on higher ground.

Thursday could still be cool but by Friday, Adelaide should reach highs of 20C with lows above 10C.

Mildura will reach 21C on Friday, a full five degrees above average for June. Melbourne will be a little cooler but will still get to 18C by the end of the week with lows of 11-13C.

Across the Bass Strait, Hobart is looking at 17C on Friday and a low of 10C early on Saturday, far above the mere 5C expected on Thursday morning. Tassie’s capital could also see gusty winds.

Expect Launceston to be cooler with highs of around 15-16C.

WARM BUT WET

With the warmth comes rain. In Tasmania, that will be concentrated in the north with as much as 40mm falling on Launceston on the weekend and 65mm of moisture in Burnie from Saturday to Monday.

That same system will also affect Victoria and South Australia.

“There’s a band of rain approaching south eastern Australia. Most of that on Saturday. The rain won’t last that long but it will be heavy,” said Mr Saunders.

Around 15mm could fall on Melbourne on Saturday, 25mm in Bendigo and up to 40mm in Falls Creek. But it’s just too warm for much of it to turn to snow.

“The Alpine areas are getting desperate for snow but it’s looking like heavy rain across the Alps on Saturday. There may be some snow but it won’t last that long and will clear up on Sunday,” he said.

Adelaide is in for a soggy Saturday with up to 10mm in the gauge; Mount Gambier will potentially record double that. Canberra should reach around 16C with lows of 1-2C and some rain.

Enjoy the warmth while you can though. In the southern states the mercury will start dropping from Sunday.

The New South Wales south east Queensland coasts have seen showers and some persistent downpours this week, but they should ease by Friday. But heavy downpours may spread across central and inland parts of the Sunshine State.

Stable conditions in Sydney. Temperatures around 20C with cloudy days and some sunshine. Up to 25C in Brisbane with lows of 14C.

Poor Perth, though. The bands of rain just keep on coming with a drenching due on Thursday.

“Most areas will see 10-15mm of rain but in Perth that could be over 25mm which would boost the city’s June rain total to more than 200mm. It’s been 10 years since we’ve seen that much rain in June,” said Mr Saunders.

Finally the Top End, and in Darwin the relatively cold mornings of 15C this week should give way to more manageable minimums of 20C plus by the end of the week. Highs of 30-31C.