New high reached during great heatwave - Brisbane Times

A new temperature record for the great heatwave cooking much of the continent has been set with Moomba clocking up 49.2 degrees.

That total, the highest on record for the remote South Australian gas region, may be exceeded there later today or elsewhere as the scorching heat intensifies over central Australia.

Other temperatures of note include the north-western NSW town of Bourke, which has hit 48.1, and Birdsville on the Queensland section of Corner Country was recently at 47.6 degrees.

One candidate for a 50-degree day, though, may be Thargomindah, which recently hit 47.9, having added 2 degrees in the previous half hour, according to the Bureau of Meteorology.

Australia has posted seven of its hottest days in a century of records just this month. A delayed northern monsoon means there is less moisture and cloud cover over the continent, leaving a huge inland area to bake for most of the past two weeks.

Drier-than-usual conditions over much of the country, combined with the current heat and a big build-up in fuel load, has created severe fire hazards over large parts of south-eastern Australia.

Prior to today, the maximum temperature during the past fortnight was 49 at Leonora in WA on Wednesday.

The weather bureau counts 50.7 degrees, set at Oodnadatta on January 2, 1960, as the all-time high.

Heats takes it toll

Six people have been treated for heat exposure across NSW, as temperatures push above 45C in some parts of the state.

NSW Ambulance said five women aged between 38 and 93 and a 12-year-old girl were treated by paramedics on Saturday, with four of them taken to hospital.

Meanwhile an 85-year-old male from Charlestown near Newcastle was also taken to hospital.

"This would be in addition to other six heat-related call-outs for reasons such as dizziness, nausea and vomiting," a NSW Ambulance spokeswoman said in a statement.

with AAP