A weekend hot spell has brought sweltering conditions and high fire danger to almost every state and territory, sending many to the beach to catch a bit of relief. But with hotter weather ahead and the potential for dry lightning to some areas, authorities are urging people to keep cool and stay vigilant.
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00:00From northern New South Wales to South Australia's sandy shores, even Tasmania hasn't avoided
00:09the warmer weather, people doing everything they can to keep cool.
00:12Did the pool help you keep nice and cool today? Yeah, but I can't swim, I sink underwater.
00:20At summer nights in Canberra and the cricket in Sydney, crowds sought out the shade.
00:24It is very warm, so that's why we're leaving early.
00:28But it was a ghost town in Mildura, in Victoria's far north-west, where temperatures pushed
00:32past 40 degrees. Crowds flocked to Victorian beaches. At Safety Beach, a boat and jet ski
00:38crash left two teens in hospital. Australia has only just sweltered through
00:44its hottest spring on record, and third hottest December, but the first heatwave of 2025 hasn't
00:50broken any records yet. What's more remarkable about this heat though,
00:55rather than how high the temperatures will get, is really just how long they'll stick around.
01:00Fire authorities across several states have been on edge today, and with little reprieve
01:05expected tonight, and even hotter temperatures forecast tomorrow, they're warning of extreme
01:09danger and total fire bans in several areas. The fact that we haven't seen rainfall in
01:15any substantial way across most of Victoria for quite some time now, that it doesn't take
01:20much for the bushland to burn. In the New South Wales Hunter region, firefighters
01:25are still grappling with remote fires started by dry lightning, with a chance of more tomorrow.
01:30We are heading into more challenging conditions in the next two days, but we see some good
01:36opportunities on the other side. In a land of extremes, everyone finds their
01:39own way to handle the heat. I'll go for a swim and get naked.