Canberra weather: Cool change to bring heatwave relief as storms possible on Australia Day

There is also the chance of a thunderstorm on Australia Day, with the temperature predicted to reach 35 degrees.

The Bureau of Meteorology forecast a high chance of showers late Tuesday afternoon and into the evening with a thunderstorm possible. There is a 70 per cent chance up to 6mm could fall.

Wednesday will bring relief after a string of days nudging 40 degrees.

The overnight temperature will drop to 14 degrees and there is a chance showers will continue, with a top of 23 degrees.

Cool temperatures will remain for the rest of the week with Thursday and Friday forecast to bring highs of just 20 and 21 respectively, and lows of 10 and 12.

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Showers are possible from Friday throughout the weekend and the temperature will begin to slowly climb by the end of the week, with a top of 29 expected on Sunday and 30 on Monday.

Canberra experienced a heatwave during the Australia Day weekend, with a top of 35 reached on Saturday and 37 on Sunday.

Bureau of Meteorology senior meteorologist Gabrielle Woodhouse said the summer had been mild compared to last year, making the run of heat "quite significant".

"What we're seeing with this heatwave is multiple days with those really high maximum and minimum temperatures, which can be quite difficult to manage when we haven't had a history of that for this summer," she said.

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