Record-setting temperatures have been felt across parts of Australia in recent days, and it will be another very hot day today that will contribute towards dangerous fire conditions for parts of New South Wales in particular. I'm Angus here at the Bureau with a Severe Weather Update. Today is the 22nd of October, but I wanted to start with some observations from the 21st of October. These are the maximum temperatures recorded yesterday, and let's zoom in to the key area, which was the Queensland–New South Wales border area.
Some incredible temperatures were recorded across central Australia on Tuesday, but I wanted to highlight two in particular: Birdsville in Queensland at 46.1 degrees and Bourke in New South Wales at 44.8 degrees. Both of these temperatures were state records for the warmest-ever temperature recorded in October anywhere in these states, at least since reliable record-keeping began in about 1910. I wanted to show you these record-setting temperatures just to highlight that the temperatures we're dealing with this week are right at the top of the scale. These are typically temperatures that we would only see in a summer heatwave, but it is still spring and we are seeing these incredibly warm temperatures.
That means today other parts of the country are going to feel the incredible warmth as well. It is mostly eastern focused again—we've seen a slight shift in the areas of heat from Birdsville and Bourke a little bit more to the east. We've still got 40 degrees plus through large parts of Queensland. The main difference for today's maximum temperatures is that some of that heat gets right down towards the New South Wales coast. A very hot day for this populated part of the country: 39 degrees in Sydney for this afternoon, and I wouldn't rule out parts of the metro area brushing 40 for a time today. Also, 39 in Newcastle, and maybe parts of the Hunter could be close to 40 as well. Same thing for the Central Coast. Wollongong not far behind at 37 degrees, and Canberra at 31 degrees.
It's an extremely hot day for eastern parts of New South Wales—that's a good 12 to 15 degrees higher than average for this time of year. And it's not just going to be a hot one. The heat is going to be driven by some strong wind. At the time of recording, it's only about 25 degrees on the New South Wales coast. That's because that strong wind has not yet kicked in. But a little bit later on, about lunchtime, anticipate this very hot wind to start to race across eastern parts of New South Wales. It's windy in Victoria too, but in New South Wales—the real focus here—it is going to get very breezy. That wind is packing a lot of heat, and when you hear about hot winds at this time of year, you should be wondering about fire danger.
Indeed, we will be seeing elevated fire danger across eastern parts of the country—extreme fire danger through the Greater Hunter, the Sydney Metro region, and the Illawarra–Shoalhaven area, as well as parts of the Western Slopes in New South Wales. There are a number of total fire bans in place, and in conditions like this, if any fires do ignite or if there are any ongoing bushfires through these areas, they can spread extremely quickly and be very hard for fire crews to control and contain. So absolute caution is required with all things to do with fire across New South Wales for the day today.
Let's jump ahead now and look at temperatures for tomorrow. We'll see some pretty big shifts as well. New South Wales is much, much cooler tomorrow—about 15 degrees cooler for the East Coast—as the wind shifts to a lighter, cooler southerly flow. Further north, the temperatures continue to be very, very warm, well above average for the time of year. We continue to see 40 degrees or higher through central Queensland, parts of the Northern Territory, and parts of northern WA. This heat along northern Australia will continue for multiple days.
That's Thursday. This is Friday, where the pattern is very much the same, and a heads-up for the weekend—the pattern remains very much the same through Saturday and Sunday. This means that in the second half of this week, from Wednesday through Friday, we've got heatwave conditions and heatwave warnings in place across large parts of northern Australia, especially Queensland and the Territory. Long, strong heatwaves are in store for the next five to seven days up here. It doesn't look like it's cooling off in some of these northern areas until around the middle of next week.
Some of the impacts of these heatwaves can be, but are not limited to, an increased risk of bushfires in these hot, dry areas up north, really difficult conditions for sleeping and keeping cool—so that requires lots of water, lots of shade, and heading indoors if you can. If you have to spend time outdoors for work, do take plenty of breaks to keep yourself cool. Lots of stress on the power and infrastructure network is expected in the north as well under these very hot conditions. So active weather around large parts of Australia—not just today, but for the next several days—and you can stay up to date with the latest on the Bureau's website and app. Thanks for watching and stay safe.
Some incredible temperatures were recorded across central Australia on Tuesday, but I wanted to highlight two in particular: Birdsville in Queensland at 46.1 degrees and Bourke in New South Wales at 44.8 degrees. Both of these temperatures were state records for the warmest-ever temperature recorded in October anywhere in these states, at least since reliable record-keeping began in about 1910. I wanted to show you these record-setting temperatures just to highlight that the temperatures we're dealing with this week are right at the top of the scale. These are typically temperatures that we would only see in a summer heatwave, but it is still spring and we are seeing these incredibly warm temperatures.
That means today other parts of the country are going to feel the incredible warmth as well. It is mostly eastern focused again—we've seen a slight shift in the areas of heat from Birdsville and Bourke a little bit more to the east. We've still got 40 degrees plus through large parts of Queensland. The main difference for today's maximum temperatures is that some of that heat gets right down towards the New South Wales coast. A very hot day for this populated part of the country: 39 degrees in Sydney for this afternoon, and I wouldn't rule out parts of the metro area brushing 40 for a time today. Also, 39 in Newcastle, and maybe parts of the Hunter could be close to 40 as well. Same thing for the Central Coast. Wollongong not far behind at 37 degrees, and Canberra at 31 degrees.
It's an extremely hot day for eastern parts of New South Wales—that's a good 12 to 15 degrees higher than average for this time of year. And it's not just going to be a hot one. The heat is going to be driven by some strong wind. At the time of recording, it's only about 25 degrees on the New South Wales coast. That's because that strong wind has not yet kicked in. But a little bit later on, about lunchtime, anticipate this very hot wind to start to race across eastern parts of New South Wales. It's windy in Victoria too, but in New South Wales—the real focus here—it is going to get very breezy. That wind is packing a lot of heat, and when you hear about hot winds at this time of year, you should be wondering about fire danger.
Indeed, we will be seeing elevated fire danger across eastern parts of the country—extreme fire danger through the Greater Hunter, the Sydney Metro region, and the Illawarra–Shoalhaven area, as well as parts of the Western Slopes in New South Wales. There are a number of total fire bans in place, and in conditions like this, if any fires do ignite or if there are any ongoing bushfires through these areas, they can spread extremely quickly and be very hard for fire crews to control and contain. So absolute caution is required with all things to do with fire across New South Wales for the day today.
Let's jump ahead now and look at temperatures for tomorrow. We'll see some pretty big shifts as well. New South Wales is much, much cooler tomorrow—about 15 degrees cooler for the East Coast—as the wind shifts to a lighter, cooler southerly flow. Further north, the temperatures continue to be very, very warm, well above average for the time of year. We continue to see 40 degrees or higher through central Queensland, parts of the Northern Territory, and parts of northern WA. This heat along northern Australia will continue for multiple days.
That's Thursday. This is Friday, where the pattern is very much the same, and a heads-up for the weekend—the pattern remains very much the same through Saturday and Sunday. This means that in the second half of this week, from Wednesday through Friday, we've got heatwave conditions and heatwave warnings in place across large parts of northern Australia, especially Queensland and the Territory. Long, strong heatwaves are in store for the next five to seven days up here. It doesn't look like it's cooling off in some of these northern areas until around the middle of next week.
Some of the impacts of these heatwaves can be, but are not limited to, an increased risk of bushfires in these hot, dry areas up north, really difficult conditions for sleeping and keeping cool—so that requires lots of water, lots of shade, and heading indoors if you can. If you have to spend time outdoors for work, do take plenty of breaks to keep yourself cool. Lots of stress on the power and infrastructure network is expected in the north as well under these very hot conditions. So active weather around large parts of Australia—not just today, but for the next several days—and you can stay up to date with the latest on the Bureau's website and app. Thanks for watching and stay safe.
Severe weather update: Intense heat, elevated fire danger for NSW, QLD
22 October 2025
Video current: 10:30 am AEDT Wednesday 22/10/25.