Australia Swelters

Victoria and South Australia on Wednesday sweltered in a heatwave which is developing into one of the worst in 100 years.

After the hottest day in 70 years yesterday, hitting a peak of 45.7 degrees during the early afternoon, Adelaide was still hovering around 36 degrees at 6 o'clock this morning.

The minimum so far has been just under 34 degrees, occurring shortly after midnight, making it the warmest night in over 120 years of records.

If Adelaide also reaches 40 degrees later today and Friday, it will equal the longest such hot spell in 101 years.

Melbourne reached a whopping 44.3 degrees (18 above average) at 4:45 pm Wednesday. This is the highest temperature recorded in Melbourne since 1939 (69 years) and the third highest since records started in 1856 (112 years).