Gale force winds and rain to return after near-perfect autumn day

The temperature reached 26 degrees on April 8 with light south to southwesterly winds, in what was a nice change after last week's drenching.

Surfers were hitting waves below two metres and despite some cloud popping up over Newcastle, it remained a relatively dry day for the start to the week, with people still keen to dip a toe into the water.

But the Bureau of Meteorology has warned wet conditions could return today with a cold front forecast to clip the state's southeast as a low deepens offshore, bringing a burst of southerly winds to the coast and hazardous surf conditions.

"We may see wet weather conditions on Tuesday, maybe five to 10 millimetres in the Hunter and then on Wednesday still windy but the precipitation will remain only along the coastal region," a BOM spokesperson said.

Gale force winds will see seas and swell increase with waves of potentially up to four metres in height.

"Surfers, boaters and anglers need to be aware of this and not take risks," the spokesperson said.

The spokesperson said winds are expected to ease as a new ridge becomes established over the southeast of the country for the later part of the week.

"Winds will be tending north to the Upper Hunter by early Thursday and after this we expect a high pressure victory to dominate across the state," the spokesperson said.

Newcastle could see a thunderstorm today with a top temperature of 23 degrees forecast and just a top of 19 degrees on Wednesday.