Fires in 4 States, as Sydney records its hottest November night on record

Sydney has reported its hottest November night on record, with the official start of summer still days away. The city recorded a minimum overnight temperature of 25.4C and then hit 40C during the daytime on Sunday.  The previous record was 24.8C in 1967. The states of Victoria and South Australia also reported soaring heat over the weekend.

Dozens of bush fires are already burning in New South Wales, Victoria, Queensland and South Aust with hotter weather predicted on Tuesday.

“November has been quite unusual in many ways. We have only seen about half our normal rainfall and it is quite possible it will be one of our hottest Novembers on record,” Andrew Watkins, of the Bureau of Meteorology (BOM) noted on Friday.

BOM has predicted a five- or six-day heatwave in parts of northern NSW and south-east Queensland.

And the Rural Fire Service (RFS) has warned of a “very high to severe fire danger forecast” in eastern and north-eastern parts of New South Wales. On Sunday the RFS reported 62 bush and grass fires.

It is the first weekend of significant bushfire activity since the end of last summer, which saw Australia’s most intense bushfire season on record, though not it’s most deadly.

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-australia-55118406