Qld weather: ‘Severe heatwave’ warning, as temperatures set to spike

Parts of Queensland are in the early grips of a “severe heatwave”, with the mercury set to soar to the mid-40s, while widespread parts are on alert for thunderstorms across the week.

The Bureau of Meteorology says maximum temperatures are set to reach as high as 40C in the western areas of the state.

A severe heatwave alert is active for southwest Queensland with temperatures expected to climb into the mid-40s while widespread areas have been warned of the threat of thunderstorms over the next week.

A Bureau of Meteorology spokesman said parts of the state began experiencing heatwave conditions on Sunday, which are expected to persist until the weekend.

He said south west Queensland would see the highest temperatures throughout the week, with Gatton and Ipswich experiencing a minor heat wave on Thursday and Friday.

Birdsville will be the hottest place in the state, getting to 45C on Tuesday before dropping to 44C on Wednesday.

Thargomindah could climb to 44C on Wednesday while overnight temperatures are expected to remain in the high 20s, with 29C forecast on Wednesday and Thursday nights.

Boulia in the Channel Country could get to 44C on both Wednesday and Thursday and remain above 40C into the weekend.

Much of southwest and southern Queensland will experience severe heatwave conditions from Wednesday. Picture: BOM

In the southeast, Gatton could soar as high as 39C on Friday, while Ipswich will get to 38C.

Brisbane’s hottest temperatures will be 33C on Friday, while minimum temperatures won’t drop below 20C all week.

“Warnings were issued for a severe heatwave at Channel Country and Maranoa and Warrego Districts,” a spokesman said.

“Maximum temperatures will be in the high 30s to low 40s. Overnight minimum temperatures in the low to mid 20s.”

The spokesman said temperatures would peak on Wednesday and Thursday, with the mercury set to reach the low to mid 40s.

“Locations likely to be impacted include Cunnamulla, Quilpie, Thargomindah and Windorah,” he said.

Meteorologist Livio Regano said Brisbane would see above-average temperatures, hitting 31C compared with the November average of 28C.

“Southeast Queensland will be above average, with warm nights,” Mr Regano said.

On Thursday and Friday, South East Queensland was smashed by severe thunderstorms that delivered baseball-size hail and even a mini tornado, with up to 98mm of rain also falling in parts.

Mr Regano said more storms were possible this week, and were most likely to occur on Tuesday, Friday and Saturday evenings.

“It is unlikely storms will be as widespread as last week,” he said.