Temperature relief after Victoria swelters

A day after Victoria sweltered through record heat, including 200,000 properties without power, the state is set for milder summer temperatures.

Beachgoers are seen at Port Melbourne beach in Melbourne.

About 200,000 Victorians were without power after extreme heat caused a failure of the energy grid. (AAP)

Milder summer temperatures are forecast for much of Victoria after a day of record heat which saw more than 200,000 properties forced to swelter without power.

Melbourne is set for a sunny 25C on Australia Day after sweating through 42.8C on Friday.

A fire burning out of control near Timbarra in East Gippsland was downgraded to a Watch and Act alert on Saturday morning after flaring on Friday to an emergency level.

Temperatures in the region are expected to reach the high 20s, with light-to-moderate winds and the possibility of one- to-two millimetres of rain, according to the Bureau of Meteorology.

Planes with night vision capabilities were used overnight to map the fire, which was started by lightning on January 16, to better plan fighting efforts.

Milder conditions overnight has slowed the spread of the fire, according to authorities.

Temperatures will be hotter in northeast Victoria, hovering around the high 30s.

On Friday the state's energy network collapsed under the extreme heat and ageing infrastructure, with planned power cuts known as "brown-outs" imposed by the Australian Energy Market Operator.

Cuts lasted for up to two hours but were deemed unavoidable because two generators at Yallourn and one at Loy Yang failed to cope with the extreme heat.


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2 min read
Published 26 January 2019 9:46am
Source: AAP


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