South Braces for First Summer Heatwave

And on Wednesday it's all about the heat for some areas, particularly across the south. It's the first real burst of summer time heat for some southern and south-eastern parts of the country, starting Wednesday, but lingering for the next few days after that.

Meanwhile, across our northern latitudes, it's the usual mix of some showers, some thunderstorms across northern areas, as well as a few spots which could pick up some reasonably heavy rainfall.

Let's go through the state snapshots starting in Queensland and it's quite humid over Queensland. That's going to bring quite a lot of cloud, a risk of showers, a risk of thunderstorms over really broad areas through the day on Wednesday.

Now, that actually doesn't reach all the way to the south-east. So we're forecasting a bright day in Brisbane, next to no chance of rain and a high of 28 degrees, but from around the Sunshine Coast or Noosa northwards, a much greater chance of showers or afternoon thunderstorms is in the forecast.

Now for most, the rainfall will be fairly modest, but we could see some much heavier falls around the north tropical coast area in and around Cairns there, could certainly see some heavier falls there tomorrow than what we have seen for quite some time.

A broad risk of thunderstorms extends across central and western parts of the state in an otherwise hot day.

Clear skies and sunshine is the story for most of New South Wales. Temperatures are certainly on the rise here, certainly for the southern and western parts of the state.

We see Canberra reaching towards 33 degrees in the afternoon and even a little warmer through surrounding areas and warmer still at around Broken Hill. Not quite so hot across the east coast, but still a very pleasant day there with temperatures in the mid or upper 20s.

And the only real chance of rain is the possibility of a shower or storm across the north-west slopes and plains, and far north-west of the state.

Clear blue skies and sunshine right across Victoria. And you'll also notice these temperatures are doing a fair bit better than they have been through the week so far.

Most of the state into the 30s. It's 32 degrees here in Melbourne, but warmer temperatures are up in the far north. We see Mildura leading the charge, a forecast high of 38 degrees and probably not seeing any clouds tomorrow, just blue skies.

A nice day is also anticipated across Tasmania. It will be a little chilly in the morning. Perhaps some central areas may even see a light frost first thing in the day with those clear skies overnight.

But as soon as the sun starts to put in the hours, the temperatures will climb very, very rapidly and then it will be a very pleasant, sunny afternoon. Temperatures in the mid or upper 20s for many, perhaps brushing 30 degrees across parts of the East coast. Hobart trekking towards 29.

A hot sunny day for South Australia, certainly the warmest in some time across these southern districts. Adelaide headed for a 35 degree afternoon and the touch warmer and surrounding areas as well.

Rainfall really at a premium across the state tomorrow, the only real chance of rain is up in the very far north-east, where we could see a spotty shower or storm.

The wind has changed over southern parts of Western Australia and that's knocked the temperatures down. Finally, after a run of very hot days, we see Perth is back at 26. With that south-westerly wind.

Hopefully that change of wind can also help to quell some of the ongoing fires around the south and west of the state. We do still see hot temperatures around the nuclear region as well as Kalgoorlie-Boulder. They're still getting some of those warmer, northerlies.

Not much rainfall anywhere across the state tomorrow. Just a couple of spots may see a small amount in the gauge, including the south-western capes down here, as well as maybe an inland shower or storm, and perhaps a couple of storms up around the Pilbara region too.

And across Australia's north, we will see more showers and storms through the day on Wednesday, much like we have each and every day through the week so far. It is a little hit and miss, so not everyone will see one, but as they do come through, they could bring pockets of heavy rainfall.

And the slightly longer term outlook. We see signs that the monsoonal winds could be arriving in the next few days, potentially bringing cloudier skies, a slightly cooler wind flow and more long lasting ongoing rain. So keep an eye for that and your longer term forecast outlook.

Down in the south of the territory and it's a hot day with blue sky. And that is all I have got for you for today.

So if you want to see what's happening over the next few days or even the early outlook for the weekend, find your local spot on the Bureau's website or app. And thanks for watching.