Australia to Experience Hottest Day on Record

The forecasters say, that Australia could experience its hottest day on record next week as a severe heatwave in the country’s west is set to make its way east.

The current record of 50.7C was set on 2 January 1960 in the outback town of Oodnadatta in South Australia. However, The Bureau of Meteorology (BOM) says that the temperatures are likely to exceed 40C in many areas from Wednesday. In Western Australia, Perth, temperatures are forecast to remain high on the weekend, reaching 40C on Saturday and 41C on Sunday.

According to the reports, next week, the extreme heat is likely to continue in parts of Western Australia and also affect much of South Australia, where Adelaide should see highs of 40C on Tuesday and Wednesday, 41C on Thursday, and 42C on Friday. Similarly, in Melbourne, in Victoria State, the temperature is forecast to hit 41C on Friday. The heatwave is also expected to affect areas of New South Wales and southern parts of the Northern Territory.

BOM’s Meteorologist Diana Eadie was quoted by ABC saying, “We are expecting some incredibly warm conditions as we head into next week, potentially record-breaking for a number of areas across southern Australia over the next seven days or so.” She further states, “It is not out of the realms of possibility that we could break our highest ever recorded temperature.” She also added that the country could see its highest average temperature record – when all the maximum temperatures recorded on any given day are combined – broken next week. That record is 40.3C from 7 January 2013.