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The Independent UK
The Independent UK
National
Charlotte Graham-McLay

Australia swelters in a record heat wave as temperatures near 50 C

Australian Open Tennis - (Copyright 2026 The Associated Press. All rights reserved)

Parts of Australia sweltered in record temperatures of close to 50 degrees Celsius (122 degrees Fahrenheit) on Tuesday as the country sweated through a prolonged heat wave.

The rural towns of Hopetoun and Walpeup in Victoria state registered preliminary highs of 48.9 C (120 F), which if confirmed overnight would top records set on the day in 2009 when 173 people were killed in the state’s devastating Black Saturday bushfires.

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