Australia just recorded its hottest day in history, capping a year of extreme temperatures around the world
- Australia just recorded its hottest day on record with an average temperature of 40.9 C across the country- a rise on the last record from 2013 at 40.3 C.
- Meteorologists warned that temperatures will increase further in the coming days, and issued a health warning for people living in the country.
- The record-breaking heatwave comes in the context of a difficult year in Australia that saw devastating bush fires ravage the country, and the "longest" and "most widespread" air quality on record.
- 2019 has been marked by a series of extreme weather events, including a record-breaking heatwave in France, unusually warm temperatures in Greenland, and an intense hurricane season in the US, which featured the strongest hurricane ever recorded.
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Australia recorded its hottest day ever on Tuesday, as the average temperature across the country peaked at 40.9 degrees Celsius (106 degrees Fahrenheit) - an increase from the previous record of 40.3 C (104 F) in January 2013.
The Australian Bureau of Meteorology said on Wednesday that temperatures are set to intensify further in the coming days, and warned of a heightened danger of fires across the country as result.
"We're expecting large areas of inland South Australia, Victoria and New South Wales to experience temperatures in the mid to high 40s," said Sarah Scully, a meteorologist at the Bureau of Meteorology in a statement.
The record breaking heatwave comes in the context of difficult year in Australia that saw devastating bush fires ravage the country, and the "longest" and "most widespread" poor air quality on record.
Extreme weather has plagued much of the planet in 2019, with Europe battling a record breaking heat wave in June and July, and the strongest hurricane in recorded history hitting the Caribbean in late August and early September, to name just two.
Some other extreme weather conditions around the world this year include:
- Unusually warm temperatures in Greenland - 10 C (50 F) warmer than the years before, which have led to ice melting in the country.
- Torrential rain and devastating floods in Japan that killed at least 90 people.
- An intense hurricane season in the US which saw 18 named storms, 6 hurricanes, 3 intense hurricanes - figures said to be above average according to data from Colorado State University.
- That was capped by Hurricane Dorian, which became the strongest hurricane ever recorded before it made landfall in early September.
- Record high temperatures of 45.9 C (114.6 F) in France in July.
The Bureau of Meteorology in Australia issued a health warning to people, with the heatwave conditions and smoke from the fires expected to have a "large impact on people's health."
Dr Blair Trewin, a climatologist at the Bureau of Meteorology said temperatures will reach extreme numbers on Wednesday and Thursday, and are expected to reach at least a degree higher than the previous record from 2013 which stood at 40.3 C until Tuesday.
Trewin said scientists are expecting to also see record temperatures for the month of December as the extreme heatwave continues.
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