Another way to look at this map is to just show the areas which are forecast to reach 40°C or higher today and see what a broad part of the country through the south-east up to the north could see those temperatures beginning with a four. It's not just one day either. It's going to be not just hot tomorrow, but a hot night tonight. Here's a look at the overnight minimum temperatures as we move into Wednesday morning. We'll see these temperatures at around 6 or 7 am in most places and, for many parts of the country along the coast, nothing too unusual-15 to 20°C, a little bit cooler down in the south-but once again, the interior is seeing these incredibly hot temperatures, including a top of 31°C as the minimum for Thargomindah in the far south-west of Queensland.
Then after a warm morning, it's going to be a warm day. No surprises there. Here is Wednesday's maximum temperatures. We look at the stretch of heat from the north down to the east coast, and it does include this coastal strip of New South Wales. A 38°C high temperature in Sydney could be close to 40°C in some western suburbs, 39°C in Newcastle, 36°C in Wollongong, and 31°C in Canberra as some of the highly populated centres that will be getting a taste of this heat tomorrow.
We keep tracking through the week. Thursday will see some slightly cooler air across New South Wales, and in fact, all of southern Australia will be a little bit cooler, but that heat stays put further north. It continues to be hot right across our northern states as it does on Friday and into the weekend as well.
Here's a three-day heatwave map for the three days which end today-Sunday, Monday, Tuesday-so we can see which places have been hottest over the last three days. It's a pretty broad area through Central Australia. But if we now slide that three-day period forward, so we now look at the three days from today onwards-Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday-we'll see that the heat shifts northwards. Once it's across these northern places, it is going to stay put for several days after that. Extremely warm conditions through North Queensland, the Northern Territory, and Northern WA will persist for the rest of this week, into the weekend, and even into next week, even though it will cool off across southern parts of the country.
Intense heat can bring a number of different impacts, but here are a few of them. Increased risk of bushfire-hot weather and dry weather dry out the landscape, trees, and plants, providing fuel for bushfire. It can be really hard to sleep. It can be hard to stay cool. You need to stay hydrated, seek shade when you can, and look after your animals as well. Whether it's livestock or pets, they need extra water and access to shade. And of course, heat can put stress on the power network and infrastructure, with everyone trying to cool their houses down at the same time, so there could be some impacts there.
Finally, a look at fire danger, which overall around the country is moderate to high at the moment. Lots of places are in this high yellow rating today, but there's going to be a peak-a surge-in fire danger for tomorrow, particularly across New South Wales. We see some areas of extreme fire danger, including across the populated east coast through the Illawarra, the Sydney metro, the Hunter area, and up into parts of the western slopes and plains as well. This means hot, windy, dry weather. Any bushfires that are ongoing or that start tomorrow could spread very quickly and be very difficult to control and contain. So, a dangerous day for bushfire activity across eastern parts of the country tomorrow.
Definitely worth staying up to date with your forecast for temperatures, your heatwave warnings, and any bushfire alerts. And of course, during times of severe weather, stay up to date with the latest from your local emergency services and emergency management. Thanks for watching.
Video current: 12:30 pm AEDT Tuesday 21/10/25.
