An interactive map showcases the extreme heat Australians are experiencing - and how cold New Zealand is in comparison.
Australia had its hottest national average temperature on Wednesday, when the mercury skyrocketed to 41.9C, beating a record set only the day before. The highest temperature was experienced by those in Birdsville, Queensland with 47.7C.
A state of emergency is currently in place in New South Wales as massive bush fires burn in the region.
One map that highlights how hot the country is in comparison to others nearby is the wind map, Windy.
It uses darker red colours to indicate parts of the globe reaching beyond 40C and allows users to look at forecaster temperatures nearly 10 days out.
As of 10am on Friday, the country has a dark orange colour, showing it is at around 30C. By 4pm, the country becomes extremely dark red, with the temperature in some parts of New South Wale forecast to be at 46C.
At the same time, New Zealand is green and yellow with temperatures only hitting the high teens and early 20Cs.
Even countries in Africa - typically one of the world's hottest locations - are yellow and green. The closest any country gets to Australia is nearby Indonesia, estimated to hit the late 20Cs on Friday afternoon.
The hot temperatures are being fuelled by what is called the positive Indian Ocean Dipole. This is because there are cooler waters than usual off Indonesia resulting in less rainfall and higher temperatures in Australia. The warmer waters off Africa are creating more rainfall on the continent.
New South Wales premier Gladys Berejiklian said this week that the state was entering a period of grim uncertainty as a heatwave and high winds threaten to ramp up bushfires.
"The biggest concern over the next few days is the unpredictability, with extreme wind conditions [and] extremely hot temperatures," she said during a press conference on Thursday.
It is believed around 50 homes and structures have been destroyed by the blaze. Several firefighters have been treated for burns.
