Much of Australia will bake under intense heatwave conditions over the coming days, with multiple regions set to record temperatures above 40C.
The Bureau of Meteorology issued heatwave warnings for large parts of northern, eastern and central Australia, covering every state and territory except Western Australia and Tasmania.
The Northern Territory, western Queensland and South Australia experienced the hottest temperatures on Sunday before the heatwave conditions were expected to spread across Victoria, New South Wales and Queensland.
Maximum temperatures in the high 30s and low 40s were expected from Sunday to Wednesday, with night temperatures set to soar into the high 20s and low 30s.
Some locations were expecting temperatures 8C to 16C above average for mid-December.
Adelaide city peaked at 38C on Sunday with maximums above 40C forecast for Leigh Creek, Tarcoola, Port Augusta and Woomera.
NSW and Victoria were forecast to record maximums above 40C in multiple locations on Monday. Temperatures in Broken Hill were expected to hit 44C, Mildura was forecast to reach 46C and Bourke 42C.
Similar conditions were forecast to blanket most of Victoria, with maximum temperatures of 43C expected in Shepparton, 43C in Bendigo and 45C in Swan Hill. Melbourne was expected to swelter through a day topping 41C.
Coastal cities were expected to experience less intense heat, with Sydney forecast to reach 29C on Monday and 32C on Tuesday. Western Sydney would not be spared the heat though – with temperatures set to hit 41C on Tuesday.
Severe heatwave warnings have been issued for SA, Victoria, NSW and parts of Queensland. Extreme heatwave warnings were in place for the NT and northern Queensland.
Authorities have warned residents to stay out of the sun, remain hydrated and seek a place to stay cool.
A senior BoM meteorologist, Dean Narramore, said the hot weather was caused by a front spread across much of the country delivering “heat, dry air and strong and gusty winds”.
There would be relief for SA on Monday, Victoria on Tuesday and NSW on Wednesday, Narramore said.
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The extreme heat was “unusual” for the season, the meteorologist said, adding that some areas would experience temperatures above 30C overnight this week.
“This is definitely unusual, particularly for large parts of the middle of the NT, where we normally would start seeing more monsoonal kind of activity,” he said.
“Some of these locations aren’t going to see temperatures drop below 30C day or night until probably later this week. So that what’s triggering those intense heatwave conditions.”
Victoria’s Country Fire Authority declared a total fire ban for Monday with its chief officer, Jason Heffernan, saying it would be “quite an extreme fire day across Victoria”.
“Extreme conditions are likely and potentially due to come back into the state on Tuesday, and we will talk more about total fire bans on Tuesday, which are likely to be for the more north-western parts of the state,” Heffernan said on Sunday.
“We are concerned about all parts of the state and certainly today … is the day to make sure that you have your bushfire survival plan.”
People in parts of South Australia have also been warned about the danger of extreme fires there on Monday.
The risk will then shift to NSW on Tuesday, with the bureau forecasting high fire danger across much of the state’s inland regions.
