Sydney experienced its hottest day on record today, with temperatures rising past 46 degrees Celsius at the airport, according to the Bureau of Meteorology.
Dr Blair Trewin, a climatologist at the Bureau of Meterology said that temperatures at Sydney Observatory Hill climbed to 45.8 degrees Celsius at around 3.15pm, breaking its all time record of 45.3 degrees Celsius set in 1939.
“We had 46.4 at the airport and we are seeing records at a number of other places as well, so it’s certainly a pretty significant day,” he said.
Dr Trewin said that temperatures could “jump up by another half a degree or a degree” before things cool down at night, but that the recent heatwave should be drawing to a close.
“Today should be the last really hot day in the Sydney area,” he said.
A graph published by the Bureau of Meteorology showed temperatures climbing steeply from mid-Friday morning.
Canberra experienced temperatures of 41.6 degrees Celsius, their hottest January on record but still slightly under the all time record of 42.2 degrees Celsius set in February 1968.
“It is scorchingly hot out there,” said Dr David Jones, Head of Climate Monitoring and Prediction Services at Australian Bureau of Meteorology.