![A fallen tree on Commonwealth Ave after strong winds on Friday afternoon.](/web/20170115044342im_/http://www.smh.com.au/content/dam/images/g/t/r/8/g/l/image.related.wideLandscape.460x259.gtreol.png/1484433278409.jpg)
No warning: Freak windstorm takes Canberra by surprise as major clean-up gets underway
It dropped the temperature nine degrees in nine minutesĀ and now a major clean-up is underway in the capital after Friday's freak windstorm.
It dropped the temperature nine degrees in nine minutesĀ and now a major clean-up is underway in the capital after Friday's freak windstorm.
You're not wrong: Sydney has just tossed and turned through a night of "quite exceptional" heat.
As NSW residentsĀ yet again brace themselvesĀ for scorchingĀ heat withĀ the mercuryĀ set to rise above 40c, authorities have issued a total fire ban across most of the state.
After a warm night, Melbourne woke up to light rain on Friday, a little taster of the heavier falls expected later on.
Power cuts, sizzled tennis players and runaway grassfires featured in another scorching summer's day in and around Sydney, with only a limited respite before the heat returns.
Sydneysiders are in for a roasting as high temperatures combine with rising humidity to make for an exceptionally uncomfortable day.
Health authorities have warned Sydneysiders to be on alert as the baking sun sends temperatures and ozone levels soaring and triggers a total fire ban.
NSW Health has issued an air pollution alert as Sydney prepares to swelter through another summer day, warning residents that an increased level of ozone in the atmosphere is likely to affect residents with respiratory problems.
Canberrans who have stepped outside andĀ felt particularly sweaty these past four days can blame the mercury for hitting 30 degrees or higher since Friday. And they may not get some relief for at least another week.
Sydneysiders face an extended period of hot weather with warm nights likely to give only limited relief from daytime heat peaks.
The first band of what forecasters predict will be the region's most powerful storm in a decade moved into Northern California on Saturday evening, prompting official warnings of widespread flooding and epic snowfall in mountain areas.
A stubborn heatwave is settling in across the state with little relief in sight for days.
Melbourne Renegades defend the decision to hang two giant JumboTron screens above the arena for Saturday night's Big Bash League derby.
Most of NSW will endure heatwave conditions from now until at least the middle of next week as a hot air mass moves in from central Australia.
Sydney will get its first burst of summer heat in 2017 starting from the weekend, as dreary conditions make way for the sun.
Australia posted its fourth-hottest year in 2016, driven by record sea-surface temperatures around the nation, in a period marked by frequent extreme events, the Bureau of Meteorology said.
Melbourne is trapped under a mass of thick cloud one month into summer, because of a weather event known as "anticyclonic gloom."
This year was Sydney's hottest year even without massive heatwaves but a monster mid-year storm provided the wildest weather.
After a scorching and humid week Sydney's heatwave is set to recede tomorrow, just in time for new year celebrations.
Thursday marked the first day of the summer that a Sydney weather station recorded the mercury touching 40 degrees.
A scorching end to 2016 will ensure Sydney registers its hottest year in more than a century-and-a-half of records.
A blisteringly hot end to 2016 is in store for Sydney and those holidaying up the coast, prompting warnings.
Sydney's hot weather is predicted to intensify over the next two days with a spike in temperatures andĀ minimal chance of rainfall.
A string of 30-plus days and warm nights is forecast to bring in the new year in the capital, according to the Bureau of Meteorology.
Sydney is headed for a scorching end to 2016 as tropics-like heat and humidity push their way into Australia's south-east.
Hundreds of thousands of Filipinos have been evacuated as a powerful typhoon roars its way across the Philippines.
A hot air mass moving towards Sydney will ensure a sweltering end to 2016 for most of the south-east of New South Wales.
Melbourne has had a hottest Christmas Day in 18 years, with the temperature topping at 36.3 degrees at 4.30pm today.
The west of New South Wales will be hit by higher temperatures in the coming days before cooling off midweek, as a hot air mass moves towards Sydney.
A powerful late-season typhoon Nock-ten is spinning towards the Philippines.
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