No respite as mercury soars to new levels

Heatwave conditions are expected to extend to southern Queensland, central and western Victoria and South Australia.

Heatwave conditions are expected to extend to southern Queensland, central and western Victoria and South Australia as temperatures soar 14 to 16C above average.

Bureau of Meteorology senior meteorologist Dean Sgarbossa said the heat was unlikely to shift until at least Sunday as hot air from Central Australia was pushed by a cold front moving from the west towards the eastern seaboard of NSW and Queensland. “We could see … records broken across southeast and South Australia, and maybe even in NSW as well,” he said.

Sydney would see its hottest day on Saturday at 34C while Melbourne would swelter on Friday with up to 43C.

Canberra recorded its hottest day on record for December with a maximum of 39.3C.

The BoM said preliminary data suggested Wednesday was the hottest day on record for Australia, with the average maximum temperature of 41.9C beating by 1C the record set 24 hours earlier. Fitzroy Crossing in Western Australia, Wudinna in South Australia and Birdsville in Queensland all topped 47C.