Victorians searching for the perfect Aussie Christmas should pack up their cars, and perhaps some sort of floatation device, and head to the country.
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That's because Melbourne is set to deliver a rather cheerless maximum of 22 degrees come next Thursday.
There is even a chance of a shower in the afternoon to really dampen the festive spirit, according to the first official Christmas forecast released by the Bureau of Meteorology.
More merry summer temperatures will be found well out of the city in northern Victorian towns bordering the Murray River.
Echuca will see the highest maximum temperature, with a "sunny" 31 degrees. Following the river east to Albury-Wodonga, a high of 29 is forecast, with a mostly sunny afternoon.
Shepparton, Mildura and Bendigo are also predicted to reach at least 29 degrees, while joining Melbourne in the partly cloudy club are Geelong (21 degrees) and Ballarat (22 degrees).
Senior forecaster Rod Dickson said a weather front was set to move through on Christmas Day, with isolated showers in the southern part of the state. He said early modelling showed there would not be any heavy rain come Boxing Day.
This year Victoria's mountain towns of Falls Creek, Mount Hotham and Mount Buller will not get much colder than 9 degrees. That means those yearning for a white Christmas may want to consider buying a last-minute ticket to the European Alps.
