Australia sweats in heatwave lifting bushfire risk, amid El Nino

Heatwave alerts at "extreme" level, the highest danger rating, were in place for a second day for parts of Western Australia and were extended to South Australia, while areas of Queensland, New South Wales and the Northern Territory were under "severe" warnings, the weather forecaster said.

Large swaths of Australia sweltered on Sunday in a heatwave, the nation's weather forecaster said, raising bushfire risk in an already high-risk fire season amid an El Nino weather pattern.

Heatwave alerts at "extreme" level, the highest danger rating, were in place for a second day for parts of Western Australia and were extended to South Australia, while areas of Queensland, New South Wales and the Northern Territory were under "severe" warnings, the weather forecaster said.

Australia's highest temperature on record of 50.7 C (123.2 F) was logged at the Pilbara's Onslow Airport on Jan. 13, 2022.

On the east coast, parts of New South Wales' capital Sydney were forecast on Sunday to reach 40 C, almost 10 degrees above the average January maximum.

The hot, dry conditions raised the risk of bushfires in some areas, the weather forecaster said, as Australia endures an El Nino weather event, typically associated with extreme phenomena such as wildfires, cyclones and droughts.