• In Buenos Aires, maximum temperature of over 41°C and overnight lows of 34°C
• In Uruguay, fires have destroyed 37,000 hectares of forest
• In Australia, the extreme heat reached up to 50.7°C
• A wave of Arctic cold is instead hitting Canada

Latin America is a furnace. An exceptional heatwave is hitting a large part of the continent, concentrating in particular on Argentina, Uruguay, Paraguay and Brazil. In Buenos Aires, on the afternoon of Tuesday the 11th, the mercury touched 41.1°C.

42°C forecast for Buenos Aires. Tropical nights at 34°C

Not since 1995 had temperatures exceeded 41°C in the Argentine capital. And to surpass this week's peak one must go back a full 65 years, specifically to January 1957, when 43.3°C was reached: the highest value ever recorded since 1906, that is, since temperatures have been measured regularly in the South American nation. But already on the afternoon of today, Friday 14 January, according to the newspaper La Nación, the temperature could reach 42°C. And the overnight low is expected to settle around 34°C.

Keraunos ✓ @KeraunosObs

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🌡 Ce 13 janvier, la #chaleur a été intense une fois de plus en #Argentine, avec une Tmin de 29,2°C à Bahia Blanca (#record), et une Tmax de 43,6°C ! Carte Ogimet. #argentina

♥ 22 14 gen 2022 · Apri su X →

In an attempt to defend themselves against the extraordinary heat, the population is making intensive use of air conditioning systems. This has put pressure on the electricity grid and energy producers, causing repeated blackouts that are affecting numerous areas of the metropolitan territory. In some neighbourhoods, street lighting and traffic lights have stopped working altogether, making transport chaotic.

50.7°C in Australia. In Canada, temperatures approach -30°C

In Uruguay, meanwhile, the heat combined with drought has already caused widespread fires, which have destroyed 37,000 hectares of forest in the provinces of Paysandú and Rio Negro. According to the international press, these are the worst blazes in the nation's history, prompting the authorities to issue a maximum alert.

Still in the southern hemisphere, Australia too is recording extraordinarily high temperatures. In the coastal city of Onslow, 50.7 degrees Celsius was reached on Thursday the 13th: the highest value ever recorded nationally in 62 years. It was indeed 2 January 1960 when the country last touched the same temperature: at the time it was at Oodnadatta Airport, in South Australia.

At the same time, in the northern portion of the Americas, historic records are being set, but in the opposite direction. In the Canadian province of Québec, an extreme cold snap has caused temperatures to plummet to polar levels: at Jean-Lesage Airport the thermometer reached -29.6°C, while in Montréal the morning low at 8 o'clock was -25°C.