Temperature records are tumbling across inland Queensland as other parts of the state also brace for a hot spell.
Some towns in the central west are expecting temperatures of 40°C or more for the week ahead, AAP reports.
In Cunnamulla, southwest Queensland, a temperature record that had stood for more than a century was broken on Sunday.
Birdsville in Queensland saw temperatures of 43 degrees Celcius yesterday - 10 above average. Photo: AAP
"We saw October maximum temperature records broken at St George, Goondiwindi, Cunnamulla, and even some over nearer to the east coast," Bureau of Meteorology forecaster Gordon Banks said.
"At Cunnamulla they got 42°C yesterday and that's the highest October temperature ever recorded there - and that station has been open since 1907."
At Birdsville, on Sunday, temperatures reached 43° which was 10 degrees above average.
Queensland's heavily populated southeast corner will not be spared the heat, with Brisbane expecting a maximum of 36° on Monday.
Ipswich, to Brisbane's west, is expected to get to 40°, which is just below the highest October temperature on record of 41.1° in 1958.
The Gold Coast should be cooler at 33° and the Sunshine Coast is expecting a comparatively mild 31° .
Lightning storms cause havoc in South Australia, Victoria
Meanwhile, lightning storms have wreaked havoc in South Australia and Victoria.
In South Australia there were about 80000 lighting strikes, some of which started fires in the Flinders Ranges and on the Eyre Peninsula.
Over 3000 homes in the state have lost power.
In Melbourne, an early morning lightning storm caused chaos with almost all the train services on the city's urban loop cancelled after a power surge caused by a lightning strike disrupted signals.
Another lightning bolt, in inner city Melbourne, set fire to a tree which then fell on an adjacent house, setting that alight.
The city also received its highest 24-hour rainfall since September last year.