They already have snowballs stored up in their freezer, ready for snowball battles, thanks to the surprise spring dump yesterday morning.

''It was amazing, like a winter wonderland,'' their mother Amanda said.

''It got everyone out of bed really early - there was no need for an alarm!''

Canberra and its surrounds shivered through Thursday and much of Friday as a cold front made its way across the capital and developed into a low-pressure system.

The top temperature on Thursday was 8.6 degrees - the coldest October day in Canberra since 1968.

But it warmed yesterday, once the sun came out in a clear spring sky. The maximum was 14.9 degrees, reached at 4.15pm.

Bureau of Meteorology duty forecaster Nick Bright said the extreme cold was not normal for spring, but big temperature swings were not unusual.

''October is a transition month between winter and summer … we often see contrasts between colder and warmer air masses,'' Mr Bright said.

The latest wild, freezing conditions originated in the Southern Ocean, he said, where a boundary of warm air clashed with cold air.

The snow caught most people in the region by surprise, including the Axelby family, who have lived in Wamboin for about 10 years.

''It was eerie hearing tree branches crack due to the weight of the snow. We have had snow, but not as much as that … even in winter,'' Mrs Axelby said.

But it wasn't a concern for her family, as most of her 11 children spent the day playing on their four-hectare property.

They made four ''grotty-looking'' snowmen, two with carrot noses, battered each other with snowballs, and saved some of the icy balls in the freezer for later.

They weren't the only ones making the most of the snow day. Mrs Axelby said there were many snowmen lining her street. And she said it was a great excuse to socialise with the neighbours.

The snow melted throughout the day but, even when the sun came out around lunchtime, many disintegrating snowmen remained.

The Axelby kids are lucky they stored up their little bit of the wintery day - weather like that is unlikely to return any time soon.

Mr Bright said it would warm up significantly throughout the week, with tops of 25 degrees expected next week.