A national hot spell will bring temperatures of more than 30C to Adelaide, Melbourne, Canberra and Sydney this week, according to the Bureau of Meteorology.
The three-day forecast predicts maximums of 35C for Sydney, 34C for Melbourne and 32C for Canberra from Monday until Wednesday. Adelaide and surrounding areas can expect a maximum of 34C on Monday and Tuesday.
It will be the first time all four major cities hit temperatures of more than 33C in December for 51 years, according to the Sydney Morning Herald.
The Bureau of Meteorology’s Heatwave Service has issued a warning of “low to severe intensity heatwave conditions” for eastern New South Wales, while also noting low-intensity conditions might affect northern Western Australia and far north Queensland.
The bureau’s John Turnbull said the unusually hot weather was the result of a high-pressure system in the Tasman sea drawing in hot air from the north of the continent.
However, he told Guardian Australia he considered the southern hot spell “not really a heatwave as such” and more “a usual summer pattern of a couple of days of hot weather”.
The bureau classifies “higher intensity heatwaves” as posing a health risk to those over 65, pregnant women, babies and young children, and those with a chronic illness.
The Victorian Country Fire Service has also issued severe fire danger warnings for parts of northwest rural Victoria on Tuesday.
The hot weather is expected to clear by Wednesday, as a low-pressure trough moves east and brings a change in wind direction, promising cooler southwesterlies.
