Australia’s national heat record could tumble this week as a heatwave engulfs parts of the country’s west – and moves towards the east.

It comes after the temperature at a small airport in a busy Western Australian tourist spot eclipsed its old January heat record by almost two degrees.

Forecaster Weatherzone said the official temperature at Shark Bay Airport just before 4pm (WA time) was 49.2 degrees on Tuesday.

The airport serves as the gateway to the tourist spot of Monkey Mia, where bottlenose dolphins famously swim into shore.

The temperature near Denham topped 49 degrees on Tuesday. Image Weatherzone

“Locals in the nearby town of Denham (circled on the map above) would have realised it was going to be a scorcher when the mercury at Shark Bay Airport soared to 46.7 degrees at 11.58am, when it was technically still the morning. A few minutes later, the old January record of 47.3 degrees was sent packing,” Weatherzone wrote.

“When the mercury reached 49.1 degrees at 2.52pm, it was the hottest temperature recorded anywhere in Australia to date in 2026. It then edged up to 49.2 degrees at 3.45pm.”

As hot as it was, it was still short of Shark Bay Airport’s record temperature – 49.8 degrees set on February 18, 2024.

It came as the weather bureau issued an extreme heatwave warning for the Gascoyne area, which takes in Shark Bay Airport.

“Maximum temperatures generally in the low to mid-40s, reaching the high-40s through parts of the Gascoyne and Pilbara. Overnight minimum temperatures in the low to mid-20s in the Lower West and Central West and in the mid-20s to around 30 in the north,” the Bureau of Meteorology said.

Perth topped out at 39.1 on Tuesday, although there were unofficial recordings of more than 40 degrees in parts of the WA Capital.

The city of Geraldton, in WA’s Central West, hit a blistering 47.1 degrees just after 1pm.

Neil Munro’s digital weather station recorded a temperature of 53.9 degrees this week at Marble Bar. Photo: ABC/Neil Munro

Further north, at Marble Bar, the BOM has recorded maximums of about 48 degrees this week. But local caravan park owner Neil Munro said it had been much hotter.

“The temperature gauge that I just bought not long ago, with the barometer and everything, I was very disappointed with it because it only goes up to 50 degrees,” he told the ABC.

“It hit 50 degrees yesterday … we’ve got the electronic one but that got up above 53 degrees.”

Munro said this week had been particularly tough in Marble Bar, which has been dubbed Australia’s hottest town.

“It was very hot yesterday driving around in the golf cart; the air on your face was burning you,” he said.

“It’s not very pleasant.”

Australia’s hottest official temperature record is 50.7 degrees — jointly held by Onslow in WA’s Pilbara and Oodnadatta in South Australia.

Weatherzone said whether that record tumbled would depend on who won the battle between land and sea breezes in coming days.

“Australia has not seen a 50-degree day since 2022. The hottest recorded temperature to date this year in Australia was 49 degrees at Onslow on January 7,” it said.

Image: BOM

Meanwhile, eastern states can also expect a taste of WA’s heatwave with temperatures forecast to rise again in NSW, Victoria, Queensland and South Australia as the long Australia Day weekend nears.

Adelaide is expected to top 40 degrees on Saturday and Monday, with other temperatures in the high-30s. In Melbourne, 38 degrees is forecast for Saturday.

The soaring temperatures and accompanying strong winds will bring a renewed fire danger.

“Broadly across [Victoria] on Friday, we’re expecting highs in the upper-20s south of the ranges, and the low-30s north of the ranges, perhaps a little warmer in the far northern region,” the weather bureau’s Stephanie Miles told the ABC.

“However, by Saturday, much of the state is likely to experience temperatures in the high 30s, even reaching the low 40s in some areas.”

She said Saturday would bring northerly winds, pushing inland heat across Victoria.

“These winds, along with the high temperatures, are what drive our fire danger,” Miles said.

Bushfires have burned more than 413,000 hectares across Victoria this summer and damaged or destroyed more than 1000 structures.

Blazes in the Upper Murray near the NSW-Victoria border and close to Dargo in Victoria’s east continued to burn at watch-and-act level on Tuesday.

-with AAP