Town swelters in record 47.9C heat as city folk seek relief in bay

Temperature records were shattered across Australia’s southeast on Friday as the nation battled bushfires, pollution and blackouts.

Alberto Del Rey, 27, Shannaya Burton, 22, and Deanna Greenhill, 22, with dogs Dexter and Charlie at St Kilda beach on Friday. Picture: Stuart McEvoy

Temperature records were shattered across Australia’s southeast on Friday as the nation battled out-of-control bushfires, air pollution and blackouts.

Victoria experienced its hottest December day on record, according to preliminary analysis by the Bureau of Meteorology, with the northwestern town of Hopetoun hitting 47.9C. “Temperature-wise, we’re watching plenty of heat records falling as we speak across the western part of the state,” bureau spokesman Richard Russell said.

“The temperature will still be over 40 degrees across much of Melbourne, in fact much of Vic­toria into the early evening, even without the cool change.”

Melbourne had been expecting its hottest December day in almost 150 years on Friday but smoke from the NSW bushfires kept the temperature at a maximum of 43. The standing 143-year old December record is 43.7C.

Despite the intense heat and smoke, Melburnians could not be dissuaded from hitting the city’s beaches.

Elsi Stylianou, 33, took her daughters Marialia, 5, and Artemis, 3, to Melbourne’s Brighton Beach to find respite. “Today is very hot and we are enjoying the water,” she said as her daughters splashed around in the water.

At nearby St Kilda, Alberto Del Rey, 27, took his two cavoodles, Dexter and Charlie, for a dip to cool down. “This is their first time in the water,” he said. “They’re loving it.”

In Sydney, the temperature was a mild 24C, which is expected to skyrocket to 36C on Saturday with a severe weather warning for damaging winds issued for the city as well as the Hunter and Illawarra regions. Catastrophic fire conditions are forecast for the greater Sydney and Illawarra regions as well as the southern ranges.

Meanwhile in Adelaide, the thermometer hit 43C on Friday as power was cut to about 6000 residents across South Australia, with the majority affected in towns on the city’s outskirts. One person was confirmed dead and another was missing on Friday as fires raged through the state’s southeast, Adelaide Hills and Yorke Peninsula.

Six December records were broken in South Australia on Friday, according to preliminary analysis by the Bureau of Meteorology. Lameroo hit 48.4, Renmark Airport 48.3, Keithwest 48.8, Murray Bridge Airport 48.1, Naracoorte 47.7 and Robe airport 43.3.

In Queensland, 65 fires continued to burn, with severe fire warnings issued for the Darling Downs and Granite Belt, central highlands and coalfields, and the eastern parts of the Warrego and Maranoa districts.

ADDITIONAL REPORTING: AAP