AUSTRALIA:  On Friday, Tens of thousands of people scorching through a brutal heatwave in southern Australia were left without power as the grid struggled with surging demand. Authorities report said about 60,000 customers were experiencing blackouts after it ordered forced outages to reduce the risk of the entire grid failing.

Australian Energy Market Operator chief executive Audrey Zibelman state that, "We have asked for 100 megawatts of involuntary load reduction, we have notified the networks, they're in process of doing that."  Mr Zibelman further state that, "They may have to do more over the course of the afternoon as the demand continues to increase,". The disturbance comes as temperatures in Melbourne soared to 42.8 Celsius (109 Fahrenheit) just after lunch. However authorities said that Planned power interruptions began at midday and would likely last about two hours,

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There were reports of up to 100 traffic lights without power in Melbourne, as some shops and cafes were forced to close. In other parts of Victoria, state authorities had issued fire warnings, with hundreds of emergency services personnel and dozens of planes and helicopters on standby, as temperatures in some areas were expected to reach up to 47 Celsius.

Meanwhile, authorities continued to battle bushfires further south on the island state of Tasmania. Australia is reeling from a heat wave that peaked in South Australia on Thursday when the state capital Adelaide topped 47.7 Celsius, breaking a record that had stood since 1939.

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