Australia weather: Queensland smashes rain records as heatwave hits Sydney, ... trends now
Record-breaking rain continues to pound Queensland as an intense heatwave strikes five cities and forces the Australian Open to postpone up to a dozen games.
Play at the Australian Open in Melbourne was suspended on Tuesday as part of the tournament's official Extreme Heat Policy.
Athletes were seen applying ice to their faces and necks as they rested beside the court with spectators in the stands also feeling the heat.
Players were pulled from the courts after temperatures at Melbourne Park reached a sizzling 36C at 2pm, with the mercury rising to 37.2C at 4:40pm.
Organisers have met to discuss bringing the start time on Wednesday forward to 10am after up to 11 matches were postponed due to the extreme weather.
In Victoria's west, Walpeup in the Mallee region recorded 42.3C at 4:20pm alongside dozens of other districts who sweltered through 40+ temperatures.
The state will experience a cool change on Wednesday with the possibility of storms, with no location likely to reach 30C, Weatherzone forecasts.
Estonia's Kaia Kanepi uses ice to cool down during a match with Australia's Kimberly Birrell
Further south, play at the Australian Open in Melbourne was suspended on Tuesday as part of the tournament's official Extreme Heat Policy (pictured, Britain's Jack Draper cools down)
Further north, rivers and streams are flowing 'ferociously' in parts of east and central Queensland after being pounded with more than a metre of rain in the last five days.
Forecasters say the last 72 hours have been the wettest period of the weather event after a low-pressure system and trough caused heavy rain and thunderstorms.
The extreme weather has forced the closure of up to 50 major roads with the damage bill predicted to be in the multimillions.
Clean-up efforts have already begun in central and north Queensland as conditions eased on Tuesday night, however 12 major and minor flood warnings remain in place.
Finch Hatton has been pounded with a metre of rain in just five days, while Proserpine in the Whitsunday region received 800mm in just a week.
Popular holiday destination Hamilton Island has been drenched with 113mm of rain since 9am on Tuesday with Mackay and Bowen also hit with a metre of rain.
For Mackay, this is the heaviest six-day rainfall in 15 years while Proserpine has received at least three
