SA, NSW, VIC: Heatwave continues as cooler change moves in. Temperatures up to 15 above average continued in SA, NSW and VIC today as a cool change moved slowly into southern SA. In Adelaide's northern suburbs, Edinburgh scored a top of 40.4, 14.9 above average, while overnight temperatures in the Adelaide region did not drop below 25. Elsewhere in SA, Whyalla and Keith reported maxima 15.0 above the norm while Port Augusta (42.4), Maree (42.0) and Andamooka (41.7) were the second, third and fourth hottest places in the nation. Maximum temperatures of 41.0 to 41.2 were recorded at Ouyen and Hopetoun in VIC and Minindee, Ivanhoe, Pooncarie and Hay AP in NSW. Overnight, Leigh Creek SA with 28.8 and Broken Hill AP NSW with 27.9 were the second and fourth warmest nationally. Full details are in hottest below.

There were gusty winds and heavy thunderstorms ahead of and with the change. Uluru recorded 63mm in a late afternoon thunderstorm that also brought wind gusts to 96km/h. While 63mm was recorded over 3 hours to 6pm, further showers brought Uluru's 24 hour total to 9am Tuesday up to 73.2mm, nearly twice its previous record October one-day fall in 20 years of observations. In Adelaide's east, gusty winds ahead of the change brought down a 20m pine tree in St Georges about 1.40am, narrowly missing a house. The tree in turn brought down a Stobie power pole and 400m of powerlines.

NSW, QLD: Bushfires coming under control. In NSW, a section 44 bushfire emergency has been declared for the Murray Rural fire district providing additional resources to fight a fire 6km east of Mathoura in Moira State Forest that has burnt through over 300 hectares. Cooler weather together with added equipment is expected to help firefighters contain the blaze. In QLD, rain has given firefighters the upper hand in several fires burning in the state. Weekend rain helped extinguish fires around Mt Fox and the Paluma Ranges NW of Townsville while a fire at Tolga on the Atherton Tablelands has also been put out. Also on the Atherton, a large grassfire is burning within containment lines at Mareeba while farther south a bushfire at Wondunna on the Fraser Coast has been brought under control.

International Events

VIETNAM: Tropical Storm Mirinae brings flooding, heavy death toll. Mirinae, downgraded to a tropical storm since it battered the Philippines as a typhoon on 31 October, crossed the coast of central Vietnam this morning bringing winds to 132km/h and dropping nearly 380mm in parts of Phu Yen, Binh Dinh, Quang Ngai, Khanh Hoa and Gia Lai provinces. The number of people known killed by the floods had risen to 98 by 5 November with 20 still missing. A further 2 people were killed across the border in Cambodia. Most of the dead were from the country's easternmost province of Phu Yen. Early reports say over 900 homes were destroyed, 14,000 homes, schools and hospitals unroofed or damaged, 27 fishing boats sunk at wharves, 18,000 hectares of rice and vegetable crops flooded or destroyed, tens of thousands of people stranded by floodwaters, and over 50,000 people evacuated ahead of the flooding. Several villages in Binh Dinh province suffered the worst flooding in four decades after the Ha Thanh River broke its banks while in Phu Yen the flooding is said to be the worst in 30 years after part of the province's system of dykes was overwhelmed. In Binh Dinh, Phu Yen and Gia Lai, floodwater rose to rooftops in some areas. The death and damage follows that inflicted on the country last month by Typhoon Ketsana which killed over 160 people and inundated thousands of homes and tens of thousands of hectares of crops.

UK: Storms and rain bring flooding to eastern Scotland. Storms that brought flooding to Wales yesterday moved to the east of Scotland causing flooding in the Aberdeen area. Grampian Fire and Rescue reported over 350 callouts after the River Deveron burst its banks causing the highest flood levels in the town of Huntly, 70km NW of Aberdeen, since records began in 1959. The River Carron also burst its banks flooding the town centre of Stonehaven, 30km S of Aberdeen, with water chest-high in the high street. The Council Chairman said he had never seen anything like it in the town. Hundreds of people were evacuated across both towns while others had to move to upper storeys of their homes. Roads were closed and people trapped in cars across the Grampians and Tayside, while Arbroath, between Dundee and Aberdeen, was virtually isolated with the main Edinburgh - Aberdeen railway also closed. Landslides occurred near Arbroath and Brechin. 53mm of rain fell in Aberdeen on Sunday, nearly three-quarters the November average. This fell after a wet October in which twice the average rainfall was recorded.