Much of south-eastern Australia can expect more fierce heat in coming days, as authorities warn of the health threat and sporting bodies field concerns from elite and amateur competitors.

The extreme temperatures may ease slightly in Victoria and South Australia by Saturday but many parts of New South Wales can expect a brutal weekend, the Bureau of Meteorology has warned.

Victorians were bracing for another scorching day on Friday with temperatures expected to exceed 40C across much of the state after a sweltering night.

Temperatures remained close to 30C around midnight across the state, and worse conditions were expected on Friday.

“The day will start hot and it will continue to be hot,” Victoria’s emergency services commissioner, Craig Lapsley, said on Friday. “We’re not starting from a cool base when you’ve got 30C at midnight.”

With temperatures expected to hit 42C in Melbourne and the mid-40s in other parts of the state, total fire bans have been put in place for the Mallee, Wimmera, south-west, north central and central districts.

The areas most at risk were in the central and western parts of the state with Friday afternoon the most critical time, the commissioner said.

“We’ll have the hottest part of the day and the driest conditions, the strongest winds during that period in the afternoon on Friday,” Lapsley said.

Temperatures peaked at 39C in Melbourne on Thursday but some parts of the state were already in the early 40-degree ranges.

At the Australian Open tennis, questions were again raised about players being forced to endure the extreme temperatures.

Novak Djokovic said he was “right at the limit” of his physical and mental endurance after beating Gaël Monfils in four sets on Thursday, and pleaded with the sport’s administrators to take more account of players’ health. “The conditions were brutal,” he said. “We both struggled.”

Monfils, who was visibly distressed by the heat during the match, said afterwards: “I’m telling you, I was dying on the court for 40 minutes.”



Authorities in South Australia said its three-day heatwave should come to an end in time for the weekend but warned the health threat had not passed.

The Bureau of Meteorology predicted a high of 41C for Adelaide on Friday after the mercury hit almost 42C on Thursday and 39C on Wednesday. A Bureau of Meteorology forecaster, Matt Collopy, said Adelaide could expect a more tolerable 35C on Saturday.

“There is a weak change which reaches the coastal parts of Adelaide early afternoon and then slowly extends across the city,” he said. “It will take that change some time to displace the hot air we’ve got across Adelaide and indeed South Australia at the moment.”

The forecast has forced the cancellation of the Bupa Challenge cycling event, involving thousands of recreational cyclists riding the same course as the Tour Down Under professionals, in accordance with the ride’s extreme weather safety plan.

“Whilst we know there will be some disappointed participants, and we too are disappointed to be making the decision, we are confident this is the right decision,” said the Events South Australia director, Hitaf Rasheed.

Friday’s temperatures were set to be even hotter in the state’s regional centres, with the mercury likely to reach 45C in Port Augusta and Renmark, and 43C in Whyalla and Port Pirie.

The Country Fire Service declared total fire bans for the Mount Lofty Ranges, the Yorke peninsula, the mid-north, Flinders, upper south-east and lower south-east districts.

An SA Health spokesman, Paddy Phillips, said the effects of extreme heat could hit even after the temperature had come down.

“So far our hospitals are coping very well but it’s over a prolonged period of heat where it’s hot during the day and the night that the numbers do increase,” Phillips said.

Severe heatwave conditions have also been forecast across NSW, with severe fire warnings in place for several regions, including Sydney.

Temperatures are expected to exceed 40C in Sydney’s west for four days, beginning on Friday, according to the Bureau of Meteorology, with extremely hot conditions across much of the state from Friday to Sunday.

On Saturday the mercury is set to top 45C at Hay and Ivanhoe in western NSW and 43C in Penrith in western Sydney.

Ivanhoe may experience temperatures as high as 46C on Sunday, while Scone in the Hunter region may reach 44C.

Both Penrith and Richmond have already had eight days above 40C this summer, and are just two days away from beating their all-time record of 12, according to the bureau.

The NSW Rural Fire Service issued a severe fire danger warning for Sydney, the central ranges, north-western NSW, the Illawarra, the Hunter and the southern and northern slopes on Thursday.