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(CNN) - Australia experienced its hottest day in the entire country on Tuesday, with the rise in the national average temperature as devastating forest fires continued to burn throughout the state of New South Wales.
On Tuesday, the average maximum temperature across the country was 40.9 degrees Celsius, according to the Australian Meteorological Office, exceeding the previous 2013 record of 40.3 degrees Celsius.
That is only the average figure in the whole country: the heat has increased even more in some places, such as the city of Ceduna in South Australia, which reached 45.5 degrees Celsius. Earlier this week, the city of Perth in Western Australia experienced three consecutive days above 40 degrees Celsius, which had never happened before in December, according to CNN meteorologists.
The office warned Tuesday that temperatures are likely to rise further as the heat wave continues to spread eastward in the states of Victoria and New South Wales over the course of the week.
State authorities now urge residents to anticipate heat, stay indoors and avoid outdoor activities until the temperature drops.
The heat wave occurs when deadly forest fires continue to ravage New South Wales, exacerbated by heat, wind and the worst drought in decades. According to the State Rural Fire Service, 100 active fires are still active throughout the state, of which 54 are not yet contained. A total fire ban remains in effect throughout the state until midnight on Saturday.
The fires have been active for two months. They have destroyed more than 760 houses and damaged almost 300 more, left four people dead and potentially killed hundreds of koalas and other wild animals.
"More fields were burned, more homes were lost, three times more homes were lost than our previous worst fire season in history and the fires are still active," said Greg Mullins, a former New Wales fire and rescue commissioner on Tuesday. from the south.
"The driving force behind this is climate change," he added. "In decades of service, we have seen Australia transform to drier, warmer and much more severe weather conditions."
Drought and fire are the most urgent symptoms of Australia's climate crisis. Disasters such as fires and floods have devastated farmers' livelihoods and caused damage worth millions of dollars. As the heat and drought increases, it is possible that the water is running out: the city of Sydney, home to more than 5 million people, could see its dams dry up in 2022.
The Sydney metropolitan area is now under level 2 water restrictions, which limit outdoor use of drinking water. It is the first time that restrictions have been implemented since 2003, during a drought that lasted until 2009.
Robert Shackelford, Taylor Ward, Michael Guy and Alex Stambaugh of CNN contributed to this report.
Australia