The Bureau of Meteorology is warning of heatwave conditions and extreme fire danger across large parts of the country today. Parts of Victoria are sweltering through temperatures above 40 degrees Celsius with storms also bringing gusty winds in some areas. Temperatures are expected to drop by up to 15 degrees around 5:30pm.
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00:00The Country Fire Authority today is on high alert as hot, dry and dusty conditions move
00:07across Victoria.
00:08Now, there's been a total fire ban for about half of the state, the central and western
00:13parts.
00:14So, those in the Wimmera, Mallee, southwest, north central and central regions do need
00:19to be on alert today.
00:21And looking at top temperatures, starting in the southwest, Warrnambool looks like it's
00:25heading for a top of 37 degrees today.
00:28Moving east across the state in Gippsland, it's looking for like a top of 38.
00:33And where I am now in Ballarat is reaching a top of 39 degrees today.
00:38Moving towards Melbourne and Geelong, it's seeing top temperatures are the highest across
00:42the country in the capital cities at 41 degrees.
00:46And the highest in Victoria today is in the north in Mildura, reaching a top of 44 degrees
00:51today.
00:52Authorities are very concerned about bushfires and asking people to be mindful.
00:57Already in the past 24 hours, they've seen one dozen or so smaller scrub or grass fires
01:04needing to be contained across Victoria.
01:06Particularly there was one of concern in the Grampians, which recently over the Christmas
01:11period we saw some pretty devastating fires.
01:13So they said that was in containment lines.
01:15But reminding people, those particularly in the fire-prone areas today, to keep an eye
01:20and ear out on the ABC website, listen in and watch the Vic Emergency app.
01:26And I also learned that you can go onto the CFA website and go into the search bar and
01:30look for Can I or Can't I and the area that you live in and it can tell you what you can
01:35do in those fire-prone days.
01:37Earlier today in Ballarat, I had a chat with some young children that were heading off
01:41to the pools, the indoor pools, to escape the heat here in Ballarat.
01:46Have a listen to what they had to say.
01:47It's very hot today.
01:48It's like 37 degrees.
01:50We're going swimming at the aquatic centre because it's a bit hot.
01:56But there is some reprieve coming, particularly those in the south-west that's starting off
01:59the cool change coming through at about lunchtime for them.
02:02And then moving towards the central part of the state at about dinner time, people will
02:07start to see temperatures drop.
02:09But unfortunately for those in Gippsland and the far east of the state, it won't be until
02:13bedtime or overnight that they'll start to get some reprieve from the heat.
02:16So it will be some uncomfortable sleep for many.
02:20And with that is the winds.
02:21So today we're seeing winds of about 40 to 50 kilometres an hour across Victoria.
02:26But that's going to pick up.
02:27We're already starting to see some thunderstorms happen in the south-west and in Gippsland.
02:32And as they move across Victoria, winds are going to pick up to about 80 or 90 kilometres
02:37an hour.
02:38So particularly those in Gippsland and those in the east part of the state need to be mindful,
02:42particularly later today and this evening.
02:46For more UN videos visit www.un.org