Icy winds and showers have combined to provide a rude awakening for many Melburnians.


The wind-chill pushed the apparent temperature below freezing in some areas, with the cool slicing up to six degrees off temperatures.


It comes in stark contrast to Thursday's warmer conditions thanks to some winter sunshine, which lingered long into the afternoon.


At Melbourne Airport, the apparent temperature was -3.3 at 7.25am, with winds at 52km/h – not quite as blustery as the 70km/h recorded at 5.53am.


It has also been chilly in the city, with an apparent temperature of 1.3 just before 7.30am, with winds about 33km/h.


Rainfall has not been significant, with the highest metropolitan falls coming at Craigieburn, with 4.6 millimetres between 3am and 6am. At Essendon Airport and Warrandyte, 3.6 mm fell and there was 3.4 mm in Ringwood.


After starting the year strongly, Melbourne's water catchments have this month dropped below the levels they recorded at this time last year, but are still much higher than they have been over the past decade.


The showers are expected to continue until Saturday afternoon, which is expected to be a much warmer day – a top of 18 degrees is forecast.


Sunday should be mostly sunny, with a high of 17, but northerly winds are expected to increase to up to 35km/h during the day.


That will lead to wet conditions for most of next week, with the chance of storms and hail on Monday and Tuesday.


The winds will also be strong for most of next week, with north-westerlies expected to reach up to 45km/h by Thursday.