Hottest Christmas Day since 1945

Adelaide, the capital of South Australia, had its hottest Christmas Day since 1945. The Bureau of Meteorology said the temperature in Adelaide reached 41.3C (106.3F) at 3.50pm.

"The last time when we had about 40C on Christmas Day was in 1945 and the temperature back then was 40.1C, so we've broken that record," forecaster Kenneth Cheung told AAP.

MARTINA NICOLLS is an international aid and development consultant, and the author of:- The Shortness of Life: A Mongolian Lament (2015), Liberia’s Deadest Ends (2012), Bardot’s Comet (2011), Kashmir on a Knife-Edge (2010) and The Sudan Curse (2009).

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