Record-breaking heat in Western Australia by Penny Tranter
On Boxing Day, Perth sweltered through its hottest December day on record with temperatures hitting 44.2 degrees Celsius (111.6 F). This also breaks the record for three day average temperatures in Perth; with the hottest Christmas Eve, Christmas Day and Boxing Day since records began (over 90 years).
The hot weather fuelled the outbreak of bushfires in the south of the city, threatening houses in the suburbs. The record high temperatures hampered more than a hundred fire-fighters who were battling to control the blazes that had been burning since Christmas Eve.
Emergency Services said the bushfires had now been contained as temperatures have dropped into the low thirties. Western Australia can expect this ‘less hot’ weather to continue over the next few days, but fire-fighters are readying themselves for more hot weather, as the Bureau of Meteorology is predicting that temperatures will soar again at the start of the New Year.
|
|
