‘Relentless’: Extreme heatwave to blast north Aus

A brutal heatwave will last longer than first thought as the nation’s south deals with weather extremes of a different kind.

Extreme heatwave blasts north Aus

Forecasters predict a heatwave in northwest Australia will continue for days, with temperatures potentially reaching 48C.

Meanwhile, an unusual cold air mass in the country’s south saw temperatures dip to -7C in the NSW high country on Friday – equalling Australia’s record lowest summer temperature.

A hot air mass building over the northwest has also started to spread further east over the last few of days.

On Wednesday, Birdsville in Queensland reached 45.6C, and Jervois in the Northern Territory hit 44.9C.

Weatherzone expects the “intensely hot weather” to hang around affected areas early next week.

Areas in the west, like Eighty Mile Beach in Western Australia’s Pilbara region, are forecasted to hit 48C on Sunday, while inland at Marble Bar can expect temps of 46C.

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The heatwave has blasted parts of the nation. Picture: Windy

While the epicentre of the heat will stay over Northern Australia, “a tongue of hot air” will briefly extend from the tropics into South Australia over the weekend, with extreme and catastrophic fire danger ratings to boot.

A cold front, unusual for summer, has hit the nation’s south on Thursday through Friday, with snow hitting peaks in NSW, ACT, Victoria and Tasmania.

Temps as low as -7C in places such as Perisher were recorded.

The cool weather for those areas is also expected to sustain through the weekend.

Melbourne and Sydney also saw cooler days with temps maxing at 18C on Friday – a cool change from the high 20s experienced the day before.

Originally published as ‘Relentless’: Extreme heatwave to blast north Aus