Much of Australia’s east coast will swelter through heatwave conditions this weekend with temperatures set to soar to up to 12C above average, while central Queensland braces for flash flooding after days of soaking rain.
The Bureau of Meteorology has issued a severe heatwave warning for much of Victoria and New South Wales stretching out into the weekend, with temperatures expected to top 36C on Friday and Saturday in Melbourne.
The hot weather is due to affect much of inland NSW, but Sydney looks set to escape extreme conditions, with temperatures reaching 25C on Friday, 26C on Saturday and 27C on Sunday, maxing out at 30C on Monday and Tuesday.
In Melbourne, Friday will bring a high of 34C, while it is forecast to reach 36C on Saturday before falling back to 21C and rain on Sunday.
Elsewhere, Bendigo and Maryborough are set to see maximums as high as 36C on Saturday, while Edenhope and Nhill will see maximums of 37C on Friday.
Farther north, inland NSW is expected to reach the mid to upper 30s on Friday and Saturday as hot air moves eastward, including 38C at border towns Mildura and Cobram.
Overnight minimum temperatures on Friday were not expected to drop below 22C in Melbourne or 28C in parts of South Australia, including Port Augusta, according to a forecaster.
In south-eastern NSW, Griffith, Forbes and Ivanhoe are all expecting temperatures above 35C for several days, stretching into Monday.
On Thursday, South Australia was bearing the brunt of the heat, with Adelaide reaching 34C by the afternoon and large parts of the state climbing to 40C and above. The scorching temperatures were between 5C and 15C warmer than average.
The capital city was expected to reach a maximum of 36C on Friday. Inland and eastern parts of South Australia were forecast to see similar temperatures, with maximums of 40C due for Tarcoola and Oodnadatta on Friday.
Senior meteorologist at the Bureau of Meteorology, Angus Hines, said temperatures were “really climbing” on Thursday and would stay warm for the duration of the weekend, causing a heatwave for parts of south-eastern Australia.
He said a high-pressure area east of Tasmania was steering the conditions, blowing warm air to southern parts of Australia.
“There’s a really warm stretch of weather ahead for south-eastern Australia, with temperatures … as much as 10 or 12 degrees warmer than normal across large parts of South Australia, Victoria, Tasmania and southern NSW, starting on Thursday,” he said.
Hines said there were pockets of severe heatwave conditions and widespread “low-intensity heatwaves” across the south-east.
“Friday, Saturday and Sunday we’ll start to see severe heatwave thresholds being reached for south-eastern parts of country, and are likely to see severe heatwave warnings for east Gippsland, the south coast, Snowy Mountains and southern parts of NSW,” he said.
“Potentially later on into the weekend and early next week we could see other parts of NSW have severe heatwave warnings issued as well.”
Hines said there would be an elevated fire danger on Friday, with areas of extreme fire danger in western and central South Australia due to the hot and dry weather.
Rain and more mild conditions are expected to sweep through South Australia and Victoria first before hitting NSW next week, Hines said, easing conditions.
Meanwhile, the western Queensland town of Charleville has weathered its worst flooding rain in 14 years. Some 184mm of rain was recorded in 24 hours at Lesdale, with Tambo in the central west recording 43mm since 9am on Thursday.
The bureau warned rainfall totals of over 200mm and up to 300mm could hit communities between Serena and Eungella.
The state disaster coordinator, assistant commissioner Shane Chelepy, urged Queenslanders not to drive through flood waters after a spate of rescues during recent wet weather.
“We have already seen a number of swiftwater rescues right across south-east Queensland of people who are driving into flood waters,” he said.
“We lose more lives during a disaster season by the reckless behaviour of driving through water than we do from the disasters.”
Murweh shire mayor, Shaun Radnedge, said Bradley’s Gully, which runs through the town, peaked at 3.75 metres at 6pm on Wednesday. It is about 1.25 metres higher than 2010 flood levels, which forced the evacuation of hundreds of residents, he said.
But a flood diversion and levee system completed in 2013 directed enough of the water down the Warrego River so that no homes were inundated, he said.
Radnedge said the town received about 66mm of rain in a single hour, equivalent to a one-in-50-year storm, and some areas have received 200mm in the week.
