Much of Australia presently in the grip of a heatwave

8 January 2026

Most Australia states, with the reported exception of Queensland, are in the grip of a heatwave. Temperatures in our part of the world, the NSW Central Coast, are expected to reach the high thirties, Celsius, on Saturday. That’ll be a little too warm at our place here, which doesn’t have AC.

We’ll go into Sydney, where ironically Saturday’s high is (presently) forecast to peak at forty-two degrees, Celsius. However we will have AC there.

We remain hopeful the southerly buster will come through not too late in the day though. This is a wind change from the south (bringing chilled Antarctic air northwards), and can see temperatures drop by up to twenty-degrees over the course of fifteen to twenty minutes.

According to the Bureau of Meteorology, a heatwave occurs in Australia when the maximum and minimum temperatures are unusually hot over three days. We’re only one day into this, and already feeling the pinch. Accumulating heat will make Friday uncomfortable, to say nothing of Saturday.

It’s going to be a difficult time for a lot of people, with bush fires in some places making matters worse. Do whatever you can to stay cool over the next few days.

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Australia, climate, environment, weather