Australia records highest winter temperature ever

(Patria) - Australia yesterday recorded a record high winter temperature, with the mercury reaching 41.6 degrees Celsius in part of the northwestern coast.

This broke the previous record by 0.4 degrees Celsius, reports Radio Free Europe.

The Bureau of Meteorology said it recorded the reading at a military training facility in Yampi Sound at 3:37 p.m. local time.

- The reading is the hottest August temperature for any location in Australia and a new maximum temperature record for all of Australia for any winter month - said a Bureau of Meteorology spokesperson for AFP.

Official data show that average temperatures in Australia are steadily rising, with climate change causing more intense fires, floods, droughts and heatwaves.

While the record is "provisionally confirmed," scientists still need to ensure the reading is not the result of a local anomaly or instrument malfunction before it officially enters the record books.

The previous record of 41.2°C was set in August 2020 in nearby West Roebuck.
Winter in the antipodes lasts from the beginning of June to the end of August.