Chilly and rainy day in store for the Melbourne Cup

Tricky conditions will face jockeys and punters alike at Flemington for the Melbourne Cup today.

Much of Australia has been battered by wild weather in recent days, and whilst Melbourne has been spared the worst of it, it's set to be a cold and cloudy day for the race that stops the nation.

Temperatures will not go higher than 17 degrees, and other factors could make it a challenging day for all involved at Flemington.

"It's first off, quite a cool day with a high temperature of 17 degrees, but with a bit of breeze out there, a bit of wind chill around might struggle to reach that temperature," meteorologist Angus Hines said.

"[It was a] very wet day yesterday, we've seen a bit of rain continue overnight tonight, and we are forecasting showers off and on through throughout the day."

Hines insisted it wasn't all bad news on the weather front, saying some blue skies could appear over Melbourne and Flemington in the late morning and early afternoon, which could dry up the track slightly.

However, another series of showers could sweep across the city later in the day.

He hopes it will be dry for the race itself at 3pm AEDT, but he said there would most likely be rain soon after.

Hines said a cold front is leaving the city, which brought up to 35mm of rain yesterday, but some of its effects are still lingering today.

"Now that cold front has departed in the past 24 hours, but as it's left in behind it, we've seen this chilly wind flow up from the south west, which is just dragging lots of showers from the Southern Ocean up and across Victoria," he said.

"That's what's continuing to pepper us with shower activity throughout cup day."