Canberrans sweltering through Friday and Saturday's heatwave will be granted a relative reprieve on Sunday, as the hot weather begins to push out of the ACT.
By 1:20pm on Saturday, the temperature had hit 40.9 degrees at Canberra Airport and was expected to climb further into the afternoon.
Parts of Gungahlin were also left without electricity after an unplanned power outage hit the suburb at around 10:20am.
ActewAGL said on Saturday it was expecting to restore power in the area by 2:30 pm and response crews were ready to go across the territory should another unplanned outage occur.
Sunday is expected to deliver a high of 31 degrees, following two days reaching over 40 degrees.
The forecast temperature drop will come as a relief to the city's human and animal inhabitants alike.
National Zoo and Aquarium operations manager Renee Osterloh said the animals' handlers provided them with a range of icy treats in the hot weather.
She said most of the animals slowed down and sought cool places to conserve energy and rest during hot summer days.
"We've got bloodsicles, fishicles and fruitsicles," she said.
The territory's firefighters had a quiet Friday night and Saturday morning, with only small, easily-contained fires to attend to across the city.
A total fire ban is in place until 11.59pm on Sunday while a planned power outage has been taking place in the Canberra Centre since 5:30am, scheduled to finish at approximately 2:00pm this afternoon.
ActewAGL has some interesting advice for a customer experiencing an outage in Franklin. Photo: Facebook