The cold air that lashed southern states – delivering Victoria's coldest summer temperature on record – made its way north overnight, with frigid temps reaching all the way to northern NSW.

The town of Glen Innes is one of many NSW towns which made the news because of floods this year, but its weather is newsworthy this Thursday because of the remarkably cold temperature overnight.

• At 5:51 am, a low of -1.7°C was recorded. That was its first subzero reading in any summer month.

Glen Innes is no stranger to cold nights. The town is situated at an elevation just above 1000m on the New England Highway on the NSW Northern Tablelands. It's typically dry in winter, which helps temps plummet overnight. Indeed its record low was -12.8°C in July 2002 – which is surely one of mainland Australia's coldest temperatures outside of the alpine regions.

Indeed, it appears the local tourist authorities use the town's climate as a lure to people looking to beat the summer heat.

Find your favourite place to beat the heat this summer with a family adventure to the Glen Innes Highlands.
Photo by @roamingonsolidground

The forecast for Thursday 15th December in the Glen Innes Highlands includes a max of 19 and a min of 3. The day should be mostly sunny. pic.twitter.com/igfrj3rFHM

— GIHVisitorAssociation (@gihvisitorassoc) December 14, 2022

As you'd expect, numerous other northern NSW towns also recorded remarkably cold summer temperatures overnight, as this cold, dry, unseasonable airmass with polar origins surged northwards.

• Cobar dipped to just 8.0°C, the lowest Dec reading in 67 years
• Narrabri's 5.6°C was the lowest December temp in 60 years
• Tamworth's 4.6°C was the lowest Dec temp in 65 years

Meanwhile further south in the state, Burrinjuck Dam on the Murrumbidgee River recorded a low of 4.7°C, the lowest Dec reading in 50 years, while the nearby national capital dipped to just 1.3°C.

That's pretty cold for summer, but it wasn't even the coldest this month. The mercury fell to 0.9°C in Canberra less than a week ago on December 9, which was a record low for the month.

Image: A representation of temperatures in Australia at 8:30 am on December 15. Glen Innes is situated in the small blue blob in far northern NSW.

It's going to remain chilly overnight for at least the next week in elevated parts of the southern states, while coastal New South Wales, Victoria, Tasmania, and even coastal areas in southern Queensland are going to remain cool for this time of year, under the influence of ongoing southerly and southeasterly winds.