Sydney is sweltering through its hottest day since the Black Summer Fires three years ago.
People were warned to stay inside, but thousands still flocked to the city's famous beaches to cool off.
At 5am, from the moment the sun came up, Sydney's day sweltering in the heat.
"It's already stinking," said one woman in the morning.
And the mercury kept climbing, to 40C by lunchtime.
It was an uncomfortable, unbearable, hellish day in the heat.
"Brits aren't made for that weather," said one British tourist at the beach.
Not many Aussies are either.
Emergency rooms have been set up at Sydney hospitals, ready for a wave of overwhelmed patients.
"They'll be really dehydrated, confused and often need urgent treatment," said an emergency doctor.
Heatwave warnings cover all parts of mainland states, but there's another concern lingering.
Cyclone Jasper is still moving slowly, but surely, towards the Queensland coast.
"It's a reminder that there just might be something in this climate change stuff," said Anthony Albanese, Australia's Prime Minister.
"We have experienced 2023 as the hottest year on record."
And Saturday sure felt like one of the hottest days ever.
