A heatwave sweeping Australia engulfed the densely-populated south-east on Friday, boosting temperature records, spurring fire bans and arousing concern about the health of contestants in this month's Australia Open.
A week after Australia's hottest town, in its north-west, recorded its hottest day, sweltering temperatures arrived on the other side of the continent, pushing the south-eastern city of Melbourne to a near-record 42 degrees Celsius (107.6 Fahrenheit).
Regions to the north were expected to be hotter and windy, prompting a fire ban across the second most populous state of Victoria.
Nine years earlier, Australia's deadliest bush fires killed 180 people near cities forecast to experience temperatures of 46 degrees Celsius (115 Fahrenheit) on Friday.
“The conditions are there that if a fire was to start, it could be quite difficult to contain,” said Tom Delamotte, a Bureau of Meteorology forecaster.
Forecasters expected temperatures to cool later but the heat was likely to return soon after, Delamotte added, days ahead of the January 14 start of the Australian Open in Melbourne.
Tennis Australia, the sport's governing body, says it has upgraded temperature testing at the Melbourne Park sports centre and introduced a 10-minute break for the men's singles.
It has also adopted a five-step “heat stress scale” that lets referees suspend play under extreme conditions.
In Hobart, capital of the nearby island state of Tasmania, which is usually the country's coolest, the mercury rose as high as 40 degrees Celsius (104 Fahrenheit), two degrees from a January record.
Pictures on social media showed a striking dark-orange sky over Hobart as a bushfire swept the wilderness nearby. Campers were evacuated from the affected area, the Australian Broadcasting Corp. said, though no injuries were reported.
The Tasmanian Fire Service was not immediately available for comment.
The city council of Shepparton, north of Melbourne, sent life guards to ask holidaymakers to avoid the direct sun at the city pool during January record temperatures of 45 degrees Celsius (113 Fahrenheit).
“Everyone knows it's hot, but sometimes we forget the obvious things,” said Mayor Kim O’Keeffe.