Australia records hottest day as bushfires rage across country

Australia's Southern town is about to burn in temperatures as high as 50-degree Celsius as the bushfires rage across the country. On December 17, Australia recorded its hottest day ever on Tuesday at a high of 40.9C (105.6F). A website mentioned that many areas are expected to experience severe to extreme heatwaves this week. The last hottest day recorded in the country was back in 2013 when the average maximum temperature across the continent was 40.30 ºC, the website added.

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Temperatures in South Australia will begin to rise and "will continue to build in the coming days, pushing east into Victoria and New South Wales over the course of the week" wrote Australia's Bureau of Meteorology (BOM) in a release on Tuesday. 

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Oodnadatta to be one of the hottest places

Bureau meteorologist Sarah Scully told the media that severe to extreme heatwave conditions will be felt in many areas. It is important for people to follow the heath advisory, stay up to date with the latest forecasts and warnings from the Bureau and remember to check in on any vulnerable family and friends, he added. Bureau of Meteorology (BOM) predicts that Oodnadatta, a South Australian town, is expected to record peak temperatures of 47 Celsius (116.6 Fahrenheit). With this, the town will become one of the hottest places on Earth, the BOM site mentioned. Such scorching temperatures are predicted to continue in Oodanata for at least the next week. The country reached 50-degree Celcius only in 1960, which is still the national record.

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Bushfires engulf Australia

Australia is battling hot weather which is fuelling fires that have destroyed many homes and taken a toll on the wildlife. New South Wales Fore Authorities have mentioned that there were a total of 100 fires that have been able to be contained by now. They keep on burning due to higher temperatures. Six people were burnt to death and about 680 homes destroyed and nearly 3 million acres (1.2 million hectares) of bushland burnt as a result of the raging bushfires.

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