Australia weather: Karl Stefanovic mocks bikini-clad woman swimming in ocean

Karl Stefanovic made fun of a young woman who stripped down to a bikini for an ocean swim on Wednesday – as temperatures plunged across southern and eastern Australia.

The Today show host, 47, couldn’t help but remark on the woman’s skimpy swimwear as she ran into the freezing cold water while rugged-up reporter Christine Ahern delivered a live cross from the beach.

After Ms Ahern updated viewers on the polar blast, Stefanovic feigned sadness as he joked that the female swimmer ‘couldn’t afford’ a proper swimming costume.

The big freeze: Karl Stefanovic (left) made fun of a young woman who stripped down to a bikini for a swim on Wednesday – as temperatures plunged across southern and eastern Australia

‘This poor young lady can’t afford one of those full costumes. It’s very sad, isn’t it?’ Stefanovic said.

His co-anchor Allison Langdon called him out for making a joke at the woman’s expense.

‘Oh, ease up!’ she said, adding that the woman was ‘brave’ for jumping into the surf. 

‘This poor young lady can’t afford one of those full costumes’: The Today show host, 47, couldn’t help but remark on the woman’s skimpy swimwear as she ran into the freezing cold water while rugged-up reporter Christine Ahern delivered a live cross from the beach

Stefanovic replied: ‘[She] didn’t have enough money to pay for the costume…’ 

Langdon wasn’t impressed, telling her co-host his ‘dad joke’ about the woman’s bikini wasn’t particularly funny. 

As they wrapped up the segment, Stefanovic teased he could have made a more ‘controversial’ joke but chose not to.

‘Dad joke’: Allison Langdon called out Stefanovic for making a joke at the woman’s expense 

Winter officially began for the country on Wednesday with snow falling near both Sydney and Melbourne. 

The cold snap saw an icy blast sweep across large swathes of Australia, bringing chilly temperatures, snow and bitter winds.

Victoria’s alpine region and New South Wales’s Central Tablelands to the west of Sydney both copped heavy snow. 

Cold weather: Winter officially began for the country on Wednesday with snow falling near both Sydney and Melbourne. (Pictured: a woman wrapped up warm in Sydney’s CBD)

Melbourne, which is forecast to hit a top of 12°C on Wednesday, recorded a low of 4.4°C at Melbourne Airport just after midnight, while Ferny Creek, in the Dandenong Ranges, plunged to 1.8°C.

NSW didn’t fare much better.

Temperatures across the Sydney Basin are set to drop to a low of 6°C and top of 15°C as winds reach up to 90km/h on Wednesday.

Icy conditions are also set for Western Sydney, where Liverpool, Richmond and Campbelltown are all facing tops of 14°C.  

Temperatures dropped three to six degrees below the May average across the nation’s south-east on Tuesday as we waved goodbye to Autumn.

Windy: Wind warnings are in place across Australia’s south-east, with gusts expected to hit 90km/h in some areas

However, meteorologist Helen Reid, from the Bureau of Meteorology, says it is normal for temperatures to dive around this time of year.

‘We always have some beautiful falls of snow in NSW and Victoria in late May, and then by the time the ski season opens in June all the snow’s gone again,’ she told the Sydney Morning Herald.

‘So there are cold periods at the end of May quite regularly.’

Severe: A severe weather warning is in place for south-east Victoria on Wednesday, with winds expected to reach more than 90km/h in some areas