Overview
- Severe heatwave warnings are in place for western and north-west Queensland, with Birdsville forecast to reach about 46°C as the heat shifts east later this week.
- New South Wales faces extreme fire danger on Wednesday with total fire bans for Sydney, the Hunter, the Illawarra and the Upper Central West Plains, and temperatures forecast to reach 35–40°C with a chance of a thunderstorm.
- A powerful front and rapidly deepening low are set to drive severe storms across SA, Victoria and NSW, with coastal gusts near Victoria potentially reaching about 125 km/h and a risk of downed trees and power outages.
- Multiple October temperature records have already fallen, including at Telfer and Warburton in WA and Ernabella and Tarcoola in SA, with further record highs reported at Moomba, Ballera and Tibooburra on Monday.
- The Bureau of Meteorology’s long-range outlook points to a hotter-than-normal summer with unusually warm nights, sea surface temperatures near record highs, an undecided rainfall outlook for most areas and no seasonal cyclone count forecast.