Canberrans who found themselves thankful Anzac Day had come and gone as they fired up their heaters this morning can take heart. Temperatures in the capital slipped to minus 1.8Â degrees at 6:50am on Friday.
That's the coldest April low in four years and the frostiest temperature to hit Canberra since August last year.
![Many Canberrans refuse to turn on their heaters until Anzac Day.](/web/20170430022655im_/http://www.canberratimes.com.au/content/dam/images/g/v/r/1/j/y/image.related.articleLeadwide.620x349.gvuaig.png/1493354542744.jpg)
Bureau of Meteorology spokesman David Barlow said it was the first "real cold snap" of the year.
"IÂ told one of my colleagues earlier, the first one is always the one you feel the most," Mr Barlow said.Â
"The main driver is the cold front that went through earlier in the week, it brought some colder and drier air."
That front also sent temperatures plunging across much of eastern Australia, with Sydney recording its coldest April night in five years and temperatures up to ten degrees lower than average in parts of Queensland.
But Canberra is a city famous for its chilly temperatures. Here local wisdom dictates heaters are strictly forbidden until April 25th.
This year at least, the rule seemed to hold true and Mr Barlow confirmed a sharp drop in temperatures over Anzac Day.
![It's the rule.](/web/20170430022655im_/http://www.canberratimes.com.au/content/dam/images/g/v/r/1/0/m/image.related.articleLeadNarrow.300x0.gvuaig.png/1493354542744.jpg)
The good news is, while more cold nights are on the way next week, another sub-zero morning looks unlikely.
"It'll be a similar pattern to what we've experienced this week but not quite as cold," Mr Barlow said.
"So nights will still be below five degrees over the weekend but generally sunny days, cooling down mid-next week and we could see a return to some temperatures around zero around Thursday."
A sunny top of 18Â degrees was expected for the rest of Friday, with the mercury creeping to 19 over the weekend.
Mr Barlow said the first cold, autumn nights of the year always hit Canberrans hardest.
But, while there might not be anything statistically special about Anzac Day as a weather phenomenon in Canberra, he did note for the record that the capital's coldest ever April night fell on Anzac Day in 1999, at minus 3.9 degrees.
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