Environment
Weather
Victorian beaches blanketed in hail
Victorian beaches have been blanketed in hail as the state shivered through its coldest day of the year.
Latest
Wet and windy weekend for eastern Australia
Multiple States are bracing for the second cold snap in a week ahead of the weekend.
Melbourne braces for wettest day of the year
Melbourne is bracing for a big soaking, with the city set to be smashed by rain.
Melbourne set to soak with overnight deluge
Melbourne is expecting its first big downpour of the year with 15-30 millimetres expected throughout the night.
Temperatures plunge across SE Australia
Cold front sweeps across southern states bringing chilly conditions.
Snow falls on Mount Hotham
Thirty centimetres of snow has fallen at Mount Hotham a month out from the official start of the ski season.
Pollution
More smoke predicted for Sydney ahead of rain at week's end
Sydneysiders are likely to endure more hazy days as fire authorities exploit favourable conditions for prescribed burns ahead of expected rainfall later in the week.
- by Peter Hannam and Jenny Noyes
Weather
Sydney in a smoky haze after state-wide hazard reduction burns
Planned hazard reduction burns left Sydney with a smoky scent and a visible haze on Monday morning, with parts of the city's west reaching hazardous air quality levels.
- by Rachel Clun and Matt Bungard
Easter heatwave weather coming for long weekend
Some states are expecting an Easter burst of heat, while others will be cooler and rainy.
Science
Lightning strikes twice - or more - in the same place, new paper finds
Multiple thunderbolts can happen from the same cloud, new research involving the novel reuse of technology aimed at looking into deep space has found.
- by Peter Hannam