Australia’s south-east sweltered through an extreme heatwave on Tuesday, with new temperature records set in multiple states, the Bureau of Meteorology has confirmed.
The heatwave is expected to move north as parts of NSW and south-western Queensland face sweltering conditions and the possibility of new temperature records.
The temperature in Renmark, in South Australia’s rural Riverland area, reached 49.6C on Tuesday, its hottest day on record.
Sizzling through record temperatures, the nearby towns of Lameroo and Loxton recorded temperatures of 48.3C and 48.2C, while in Yunta, about 350km north-west of Renmark, the mercury hit 47.1C.
In South Australia's south-east, Keith, Naracoorte and Coonawarra reached 47.3C, 46C and 45.2C — record temperatures for January.
Across the border in Victoria’s north-west, Hopetoun and Walpeup both recorded 48.9C — the highest temperature ever recorded in the state.
Senior meteorologist at the Bureau of Meteorology, Angus Hines, said: "On Tuesday, there were far too many records to list. But a few other notable [Victorian] temperatures reached were 47.8 degrees in Horsham, 47.7 degrees in Swan Hill and 45 degrees in Warrnambool."
"Melbourne city reached 42.7 degrees, not a record, and in fact 0.2 degrees cooler than it was on 9 January," Hines said.
Around the Melbourne metro area, the hottest temperatures were recorded at Laverton and Melbourne Airport, which reached 45.6C and 44.1C respectively.
In NSW, the hottest conditions were in the far west of the state.
"Fowlers Gap reached an incredible high of 49.1C while Wilcannia, Ivanhoe and Broken Hill reached 48.7C, 48.4C and 47.8C respectively. And all of these recorded temperatures were records," Hines said.
How did the heat impact fires in Victoria?
A cool change on Tuesday evening brought a short-lived respite from the heat to parts of southern Australia.
However, it caused erratic fire behaviour in a region already suffering from out-of-control bushfires.
In the Otway region, where residents are facing extreme fire danger, the cool change created "difficult containment conditions across active bushfire areas", Hines said.
He said the cool change pushed the fire in a new direction and started blowing smoke towards the Melbourne area.
As of Wednesday, there are still watch and act warnings in place, as well as evacuation orders at Carlisle River.
Victorian Premier Jacinta Allan said there were eight active fires burning in Victoria as of Wednesday.
Federal Emergency Management Minister Kristy McBain said: "heatwave conditions, combined with the dry and gusty winds, continue to create a significant risk across multiple states".
She also attributed some of the damage to climate change.
"I think everyone’s aware that climate change is having a significant impact across our country."
"We are seeing more intense, more frequent natural disasters. Now, not every natural disaster we can put down to climate change, but we are seeing prolonged heatwaves impact a huge part of our country … So no one should be under any illusion that climate change plays no role in this."
What is the forecast for the rest of the week?
The temperature in Thargomindah in far south-western Queensland is forecast to reach 49C on Wednesday.
NSW's Burke was set to reach 48 degrees.
Several more hot days are forecast this week, with Thursday and Friday also extremely warm over much of South Australia, Northern Victoria, Western and Central NSW and south-west Queensland, Hines said.
"While the peaks may not quite reach the record temperatures we’ve seen in the past few days, they won’t be far behind with mid-40 degree temperatures common through inland areas of these states all week."
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