SYDNEY: Australia is bracing for an intense heatwave across its north and west during the New Year’s holiday weekend with temperatures forecast to touch more than 45 degrees Celsius, while severe thunderstorms were expected to hit the country’s east. The heatwave follows a wild weather system that battered the country’s east over the Christmas holidays killing 10 people and knocking down power for tens of thousands, and after Cyclone Jasper earlier this month caused widespread flooding and damage. Australia’s December-February summer is under the influence of the El Nino phenomenon, which usually brings above-average daytime temperatures, and can cause weather extremes ranging from wildfires to tropical cyclones and prolonged droughts. Extreme heatwave conditions are forecast for large swathes of the…
