A severe heatwave alert has been issued for Perth as temperatures are expected to exceed 35 degrees Celsius for seven consecutive days.
Nights will also be hot and sticky at about six to ten degrees above average.
Hundreds of people in Australia die from the heat every year, and heatwaves are the world's most dangerous weather event.
Heatwaves generally occur under what is known as a heat dome - cloud-free skies allow the Earth's surface to warm, and the warm air rises to the upper atmosphere.
The high pressure pushes the hot air back towards the surface, trapping the heat and leading to hotter conditions.
