Australia saw one of its hottest days on record in a town called Onslow, reaching temperatures of 50.7 degrees Celcius (123 degrees Fahrenheit) on Thursday, tying the record that was set on Jan. 2, 1960, according to the country’s Bureau of Meteorology.

The heatwave comes as Australia has also been struggling with brushfires that have burnt 6,000 hectares of land forcing citizens to evacuate. According to local media, the average temperature of Onslow this time of year is 36.5 degrees Celcius or 97.7 degrees Fahrenheit.

Meteorologist Luke Huntington said that a build-up of hot air in the region had been caused by a lack of thunderstorms and that people should take “extra care to stay indoors with air conditioning, or if they have to be outdoors, to stay in the shade and keep up with fluids."

BBC weather forecaster Chris Fawkes said that temperatures are set to rise slightly on Friday but will cool down in the coming days. The maximum temperature in this week's forecast was supposed to be 48 degrees Celsius (118.4 degrees Fahrenheit).

Rosebourne airport and Mardie also experienced dangerously high temperatures of 50 degrees Celcius as many other Western Australia towns were likely to experience these record temperatures. Australia is in the southern hemisphere making their summers range from Dec. 1 to Feb. 28.

Last year was the fifth-hottest year on record and likely the hottest year with a La Nina event in the Pacific. La Nina years are when the Pacific ocean absorbs more heat than a normal year. Climate change is often attributed to these record heat waves as the Pacific Northwest experienced a record heatwave last summer.

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