Awesome Aussie weather

In a slow changing of the seasons we have seen winter outstay its welcome in the northern hemisphere. Likewise, summer has been reluctant to leave some areas south of the equator.

Sydney, Australia continues to bathe in summer-like warmth. As of Monday, the temperature here reached 26 Celsius for the fourth day in a row. 

It has now been 45 years since the city has been as warm this late in the year. Indeed, in the past 150 years Sydney has only once seen such heat this late in the season, and that was back in 1968.

This pleasant taste of late summer did make for a lovely Anzac weekend and final weekend of the school holidays. Temperatures look set to stay in the mid-twenties until later in the week, when a typical autumnal weather front will move through the region by Thursday morning.

Rain or showers are expected across parts of New South Wales as the front goes through. Some parts will see their first rainfall so far this April, bringing a close to what is likely to be their driest April in more than a decade.

Away from here, there is some very heavy rain around, and its not too far away. Just to the north of the Coral Sea, we are watching for the possible formation of a late season tropical storm. This could bring flooding to the Coral Sea Islands as it edges away from the Solomon Islands.

Elsewhere, until recently, the South African Weather Service has been issuing warnings for dangerously hot and humid conditions across the country. It has taken some time, but the uncomfortably sticky weather is only just starting to fall away. 

Meanwhile, Brazil is still struggling to cope with the worst drought in 50 years across the northeast of the country. The seasonal rains have arrived in some parts here, but many of the driest areas remain in a state of severe deficit.