WA, get set for a sweltering Christmas morning with 110-year-old record set to tumble

You might want to direct Santa to your freezer for some icy poles instead of leaving milk and cookies out this Christmas Eve because Christmas morning will be an absolute sizzler in Perth.

The Bureau of Meteorology is forecasting a 110-year Christmas morning record to tumble on Thursday.

Christmas Day is set to be a scorcher.Credit: Erin Jonasson

BoM forecaster Jonathon Howe said Christmas Day would be a “scorcher” with the maximum temperature predicted to reach 41 degrees.

He said it will likely be the warmest Christmas Day in Perth since 2001 and also the warmest Christmas morning with the overnight minimum expected to stay above 26 degrees.

“That will challenge the current record set back in 1915 when Perth only dropped to 25.9 degrees,” he said.

“So at this stage, we are pretty much forecasting a record warm morning, and the temperatures rising up above 40 degrees, it’ll be very much above average for Christmas Day.

“By 9am it will be about 35 degrees and by lunchtime, we are expecting temperatures to be sitting around that 40-degree mark.”

The hottest ever overnight temperature in Perth was 29.3 degrees recorded twice in February 1898 and February 1933.

Howe said inland suburbs would cop the heat worse than their coastal counterparts.

“We’re expecting 43 degrees from Midland and Armadale, a little bit cooler if you’re on the beach with Joondalup, Cottesloe and also Fremantle all looking at around 38 or 39 degrees.

“It will be a very, very hot day.”

Howe said heatwave conditions were travelling south down the state this week.

“We’re already seeing severe heatwave conditions across parts of North West coast and are now extending down into the South West of the state, including for Perth,” he said.

The heatwave warning for Perth starts on Tuesday and will last until Christmas Day.

He said conditions would ease from Boxing Day when the mercury is predicted to dip down to 27 degrees before it warms up into the 30s again on the weekend.

“Very classic summer conditions in Perth, but Christmas day is going to be an absolute scorcher,” he said.

With 6PR

Most Viewed in National

Loading