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48.9°C as Victoria sweats through hottest day on record

Source Weatherzone Tue 27 Jan 2026

Temperatures in Victoria have soared to the highest levels ever recorded, with the mercury reaching 48.9°C in the small Mallee region towns of Walpeup and Hopetoun, south of Mildura. The old state record was 48.8°C at Hopetoun. Meanwhile just over the border, Renmark in South Australia's Riverland region recorded 49.6°C at 2:23pm. This not only broke the old town record of 48.6°C, but was the hottest temperature recorded anywhere in Australia to date in 2026. Let’s break down some key observations in the northern border region of Vic and SA, where the hottest air in the ongoing southeast Australian heatwave was concentrated this Tuesday. Victoria Notable readings included: 48.6°C at Mildura, which broke the old record of 46.9°C in Victoria's largest Murray River city. 48.1°C at Longerenong in the Wimmera district, about 300km south of Mildura, which broke the old record of 47.6°C. 46.3°C at Mortlake in the South West forecast district, the first time a temperature has been recorded above 46°C in the town of approximately 1200 residents. 45.0°C in Warrnambool at 2:22pm. The state’s largest coastal city outside of the Port Philip Bay area is usually protected from extreme heat, but before the sea breeze kicked in around 3pm, the town reached its hottest temperature in records dating back to 1897. 42.7°C in Melbourne just before 5pm, where the hottest air arrived later in the afternoon. Earlier, Australian Open matches on outside courts were suspended under the tournament’s extreme heat policy. 45.6°C at Laverton in southwest Melbourne just before 5pm, Tuesday’s hottest reading in the metropolitan area. South Australia Notable readings included: 49.6°C at Renmark, as mentioned above. 48.3°C at Lameroo, in eastern SA’s Murraylands forecast district. 48.2°C at Marree in SA’s North East Pastoral district, which might be considered a "warm-up" for the consecutive days of 49°C forecast for this Thursday and Friday. 42.2°C in Adelaide, which quite remarkably was recorded before 11am. It’s the fifth time this month temperatures have hit 42°C or higher in the SA capital. What caused today's record heat? As Weatherzone meteorologist Ben Domensino explained in his story earlier on Tuesday, a slow-moving upper-level high pressure system is causing air to heat up as it descends from higher altitudes towards the surface. "This 'subsidence warming' will occur for numerous consecutive days due to the slow-moving nature of the upper-level high, causing temperatures to remain at record-challenging levels for another few days," Domensino wrote. How long will this extreme heat last? Image: Heatwave forecast for Australia for the three days starting Wednesday, January 28, 2026. As the map above shows, there are several more days to go, although the worst heat will tend to track a little further north of where it was on Tuesday, with western NSW, northern SA and SW Qld copping the worst of it. Please check the Weatherzone warnings page for the latest information on extreme weather. For up-to-date bushfire information in states currently affected by extreme heat, check VicEmergency, the NSW Rural Fire Service, or the SA Country Fire Service.  READ MORE: South Australian seaside sizzles at 49.5°C - Weatherzone © Weatherzone 2026