A record-breaking heatwave baked Australia’s southeast for a fifth straight day on Wednesday, fanning bushfires and straining the power grid, leaving thousands of properties without electricity. The heatwave is the worst seen in Victoria, Australia’s second-most populous state, since the 2009 Black Saturday bushfires that killed 173 people and is not expected to ease until the weekend, authorities said. “We are now into day five of the severe to intense heatwave here in Victoria and we are starting to see some of those impacts,” said Victorian Emergency Management Commissioner Tim Wiebusch. “An extreme heat warning is still in place, and we are expecting to see eight consecutive days of severe to extreme intensity heatwave.”
David Crock, a forecaster from Australia’s Bureau of Meteorology, said the heat was being driven by climate change and called the temperatures “very unusual”.

Full report : Record-breaking Australia heatwave fuels bushfires, cuts power to thousands.