Never mind how cold it’s been in Perth this week — dozens of swimmers have braved below freezing temperatures off the coast of Antarctica to mark the winter solstice with an annual midwinter swim.

More than 20 Australian Antarctic Program expeditioners took the plunge in a -2C ice hole on Macquarie Island — a sub-antarctic island located about halfway between Tasmania and Antarctica — on Sunday morning to celebrate the shortest day of the year.

And in Perth, more than 50 swimmers jumped into the icy water at Bicton Baths to commemorate the solstice after the city recorded an overnight minimum of just 10.8C.

Perth mother Esther Malyniak described the past week as “extremely freezing”, and said it was a mental battle to get out of bed every morning.

She braves the weather every Sunday morning, rugged up in her Swiss ski jacket to take her 10-year-old son, Jake, to his weekly soccer game.

“We had to get up at 6.45am this morning whilst it was still dark ... I’ve got my thermals on and lots of layers, my ski jacket from Switzerland, my beanie and my dog to keep me warm,” she said.

“It seems this week that there’s a real chill in the air, and once you get cold, it’s hard to get warm.”

She said her family survived the winter chill the old-fashioned way: with heat packs and hot water bottles.

“When we’re sitting still for long periods of time, we have our favourite footy rugs out and honey lemon drinks to keep us warm in the insides,” she said.

Temperatures plummeted to just 3.1C on Friday morning, with Jandakot hitting a near-freezing 1C about 5.15am. Some country centres fell below 0C.

The city recorded its coldest morning of the year on Thursday, with the mercury falling to just 0.5C and 3C in Perth and Jandakot, respectively.

The lowest minimum temperature ever recorded in June in Perth was -0.7C on June 17, 2006.

PERTH WEATHER THIS WEEK

MONDAY: Shower or two 9C- 19C 🌧️

TUESDAY: Sunny 7C - 20C ☀️

WEDNESDAY: Sunny 8C - 20C ☀️

THURSDAY: Sunny 8C - 22C ☀️

FRIDAY: Showers 9C - 19C 🌧️