‘It’s been like hell’: Temperatures in Australian towns soar to nearly 50 degrees Celsius as heatwave worsens
- The past four days were among the country’s top 10 hottest on record, with forecasters warning of yet more record-breaking temperatures to come
- In South Australia state, the tiny town of Tarcoola experienced a record-high 49 degrees on Tuesday
Australian towns were among the hottest places on Earth this week as a severe heatwave hit the continent’s southeast, with forecasters warning of more record-breaking temperatures before the weekend.
The past four days were among the country’s top 10 hottest on record, with temperatures nearing 50 degrees Celsius (122 degrees Fahrenheit) in some spots, the Bureau of Meteorology said on Wednesday.
“With South Australia breaking some all-time records yesterday, it would certainly put this region as one of the warmest parts of the world yesterday, if not the warmest,” the bureau’s senior meteorologist Philip Perkins said. “The places that broke records yesterday are already warmer at this time today as they were yesterday.”
Overnight temperatures were also set to remain high, before a rapid change to cooler conditions from late Thursday when a cold front currently over the Southern Ocean sweeps across southern Australia, Perkins said.
“Everything’s sort of a bit of a pressure cooker at the moment, and everything’s getting hotter and more humid and we’re all doing a slow clap waiting for this change to come through,” he said.