Queensland set to be baked by extreme winter heat

Queensland is expected to be scorched by temperatures up to 14 degrees above average this week with Brisbane expected to swelter through the mid-30s on the final day of winter next Saturday.

Temperature records have been smashed in outback Australia in the last several days and those unseasonably hot conditions will move into northern NSW and Queensland this week.

Brisbane is forecast to nudge over 30C on Monday – with a top of 31 – and will remain hot throughout the week.

According to the Bureau of Meteorology, temperatures are forecast to hit a maximum of 34 degrees in the Queensland capital next Saturday.

It’s well above the city’s August mean maximum temperature of 21.8.

Of particular importance for many in southeast Queensland, it means conditions could still be hot for kick-off in the massive NRL derby between the Brisbane Broncos and Dolphins at Suncorp Stadium at 5.30pm.

“We’ve got temperatures well above average across much of Queensland for the entire upcoming week into next weekend,” Bureau of Meteorology meteorologist Miriam Bradbury told NewsWire on Sunday.

“Generally speaking, those temperatures will be four to 14 degrees above the August average for much of western, southern and central Queensland, as well as the southeast.

The unseasonably warm conditions are being driven by hot conditions in the outback which has seen records tumble.

Oodnadatta topped 39.4C on Saturday – the hottest August temperature ever recorded anywhere in South Australia.

“So we saw those really hot conditions picking up through the interior of Western Australia late last week, moving into central parts of Australia this weekend,” Ms Bradbury said.

“Impacting parts of South Australia, the Northern Territory and western Queensland.

“But as we go into the early part of this coming week, that’s when we’re going to start seeing that heat picking up across Queensland and Northern and NSW in particular.”

And according to the bureau, it’s expected to be a hotter than average spring and summer.

“Our long range forecasts are telling the same story – they’ve been telling it for quite a while now, which is a very high chance of exceeding the maximum temperature,” Ms Bradbury said.

“Which means more likely than not spring and into early summer will remain above average for the most part.

“That’s not to say we won’t have cooler breaks within that three to six month period. We’re going to get our usual weather features moving through our cold fronts, our onshore wind.

“But the overall trend for that longer term period is for warmer than average conditions.”

Meanwhile parts of south eastern Australia are expected to experience severe thunderstorms and wild weather on Sunday.

It’s expected to affect Victoria, southern NSW and South Australia.