13 Oct 2012

Power cut by snow in NSW Blue Mountains

8:58 am on 13 October 2012

About 470 properties in the Blue Mountains of New South Wales were without electricity on Friday night after a day of wild winds, rain and snow.

Snowfalls of 15cm and wind damage cut roads and rail access to the upper Blue Mountains for more than six hours.

The Bureau of Meteorology said snowfalls occurred along the Great Dividing Range and as far north as Queensland's Granite Belt.

The ABC reports weather also affected metropolitan Sydney, with ferry services suspended between Manly and Circular Quay due to big swells.

Two bushwalkers were rescued from the Snowy Mountains after they set off an emergency beacon in Kosciuszko National Park on Friday morning.

Four students and two teachers from Trinity Christian School in Canberra were also rescued by the SouthCare helicopter.

They were snowed in while on a three-day hike for their Duke of Edinburgh Award in Namadgi National Park, south of Canberra.