Mildura and Ouyen were forecast to reach 49C as a heatwave swept south-east Australia. (Facebook: Mildura.com)

A severe heatwave has delivered record-breaking temperatures in Victoria’s north-west, with Walpeup and Hopetoun recording a new statewide maximum of 48.9 degrees Celsius.

The state’s north-east was put on notice when temperatures of 49C were forecast as part of an extended run of extreme weather.

The mercury officially hit 48.9C in Walpeup, near Ouyen, at 3:36pm, according to the latest Bureau of Meteorology (BOM) observations.

That temperature was matched at Hopetoun Airport, around one hour’s drive south of Walpeup, at 4:06pm.

That temperature eclipses the previous highest recorded temperature of 48.8C, which was recorded at Hopetoun Airport during the Black Saturday bushfires.

Melbourne’s highest temperature was also recorded on Black Saturday — 46.4C on February 7, 2009.

[table previous max temps]

The highest-ever recorded temperature at Mildura is 50.7C in January 1906, but this is excluded from official records because of the instrumentation used.

New record temperatures were recorded today in Mildura (48.6C), Longerenong (48.1C), Horsham (47.8C), Mortlake (46.3C), Hamilton (45C), Warrnambool (45C), and Walpeup.

Records were also beaten in SA at Renmark (49.3C) and Loxton (48.1C).

Parts of Melbourne breached the 45C mark including Laverton (45.5C) and Point Cook (45.3C) in the city’s west, while Melbourne Airport hit 44.1C.

Olympic Park in centre of Melbourne peaked at 42.7C at 4:48pm.

The BOM’s Christie Johnson told ABC Victoria Statewide Drive a cool change was rolling over the south-west of the state, and was expected to reach Geelong about 6:30pm.

“It’s definitely going to be bringing some relief into the second half of the evening,” she said.

The BOM will analyse all peak temperatures before confirming official records tomorrow.

It comes on the back of a record-breaking day across the border, where an exhausting 49.5C was reached at Ceduna on South Australia’s far west coast yesterday.

It is an ominous start to the year, following a significantly hot 2025 across the board.

Last year was Australia’s fourth-warmest year since national records began in 1910, according to the BOM, with the national annual average temperature 1.23C above the 1961–1990 average.