Temperatures recorded included 48.2C at Wudinna airport on SA’s Eyre Peninsula, 45.9C at Walpeup in Victoria, 45.6C at Paraburdoo, WA, and 45.9C at Hay in NSW.

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Victoria’s Hume Highway was closed on Thursday and regional trains were cancelled as firefighters from at least two states fought bushfires in the worst heatwave to descend on Australia since 2019-20.

As Melbourne prepared for a forecast of 41C day on Friday, the acting premier, Ben Carroll, described Victoria as “one of the most bushfire-prone areas in the world”.

Source: Guardian - World News