Australia has had its hottest day on record as an intense heatwave continues to grip the country.
Preliminary data suggested average temperatures hit 40.9 degrees Celsius yesterday, fuelling fires and prompting widespread health warnings.
It surpasses the previous record of 40.3 degrees Celsius, which was recorded in January 2013.
Diana Eadie from Australia's Bureau of Meteorology said: "The heat has been building, with temperatures tipping over 45 degrees in much of the interior of Australia.
"This heat will only intensify further today [Wednesday] - southern and central Australia will swelter, with temperatures 8 to 16 degrees above average."
Preliminary results suggest that the 17th December was Australia's hottest day on record at 40.9 ºC, with the average maximum across the country as a whole, exceeding the previous record of 40.3 ºC on the 7th January 2013. https://t.co/TKwWBuFPgJ pic.twitter.com/xOFpokoXos
— Bureau of Meteorology, Australia (@BOM_au) December 18, 2019
Dean Narramore from the Bureau of Meteorology added that there was an "incredible pool of hot air sitting right across the country".
Communities in Australia had been advised to be prepared for a heatwave, after extreme temperatures were forecast for this week.
With the heat prompting warnings of an 'elevated fire danger', more than 100 blazes have been raging across New South Wales.
Firefighters said more than half of the bush and grass fires were "uncontained".
Six people have died in the fires, while more than 680 homes have been destroyed and around three million acres of bushland burned.
