Australia's east coast swelters through unusually hot start to spring

Australia's east coast is facing unusually hot conditions at the very start of spring, prompting authorities to declare fire bans in several regions. The Bureau of Meteorology (BoM) warned of unseasonal heat reaching the low-to-mid 30s Celsius across north-eastern New South Wales and south-east Queensland.

Brisbane was forecast to hit a top of 34C, which would make it the city's hottest September day since 2019. By late morning the city had already reached 31.6C, while the Ipswich suburb of Amberley recorded 35.7C in the early afternoon. Sydney, meanwhile, got some relief from its recent record heat, with a forecast top of just 23C as the warmth shifted north.

Queensland's fire department issued local fire bans for Ipswich and the Lockyer Valley as the state edges close to record highs for early September. Areas stretching from Gladstone to the Gold Coast were expected to come within a few degrees of the state's all-time early-spring temperature record. Queensland has also just had its third-warmest winter on record, with temperatures 1.8C above the long-term average.

BoM meteorologist Jonathan How said a cold front swept across south-eastern Australia over the past day, bringing damaging winds, rain and storms, while parts of eastern NSW simultaneously recorded their warmest early-spring day on record. A dry, cooler change is expected to move up the coast from Monday, easing temperatures, while Western Australia is due more rain this week and Tasmania and Victoria can expect scattered showers.

The Queensland fire bans followed a similar ban issued a day earlier for greater Sydney, where temperatures reached 33C on Saturday. Average maximum temperatures in Sydney over the first days of September matched the midsummer average of 26.4C, the warmest start to spring since records began.

Severe weather warnings were also in place over the weekend as strong winds compounded the hot conditions. Jumping castles were blown into the air in two separate incidents in NSW and Victoria on Saturday. In Banksia, in Sydney's south, two children suffered head injuries and were taken to hospital, along with an infant with minor injuries, while a woman was also treated at the scene. In Mount Duneed, near Geelong in Victoria, two children were hospitalised after a jumping castle they were on was lifted into the air. Temperatures are expected to fall across both NSW and Queensland in the coming days.