It wasn’t only South Australians battling the aftermath of the record-breaking heatwave over the weekend but their furry koala friends, as one was captured on film drinking some much-needed water from a roadside drain in Hope Valley on Sunday morning.
Adelaide recorded its hottest ever run of December days, with the mercury hitting 40 degrees Celsius on Saturday for the fourth day in a row. The previous record was three days.
ABC News reported Paul Jansen was driving along Valley Road in Hope Valley on Sunday morning when he spotted the koala drinking from a drain in an area that had received rain about half an hour beforehand.
Jansen said it was "phenomenal" to see the koala drinking water for so long. With nights upward of 30C, who could blame the little guy from making the most of a cool refreshment.
However, ABC News reported Adelaide Koala and Wildlife Hospital director Rae Campbell said the koala might have been drinking a lot due to a different issue.
"South Australia is the only state where the koala population suffers from renal failure," she said.
"If people observe them drinking a lot, they should call us and we can go out and get the koala for further testing."
Meanwhile, the heatwave has prompted fire emergencies around the nation.
Fire crews were able to bring a fire that destroyed one home under control in the south-eastern Perth suburb of Kenwick on Monday night.
The overall alert level has been downgraded as the fire has remained within containment lines.
The Department of Fire and Emergency Services said the fire started on Brentwood Road in Kenwick and is burning on both sides of Tonkin Highway.
In Sydney, several people were evacuated on Monday night as two house fires broke out in Granville and Telopea. Police are investigating whether the fires are linked after a second blaze broke out 30 minutes after the first.
AAP reported in Victoria fire crews are still battling the Barnawartha fire, but have managed to put a stop to its advance at Beechworth-Wodonga Rd.
A family of five in Melbourne’s north was forced to flee their burning home after their neighbour alerted them of a fire in the early hours of the morning.
Firefighters were called to the home in Eastgate Street in Pascoe Vale just before 5am on Tuesday to find the roof was ablaze.
Firefighters are expecting conditions to worsen in Victoria on Christmas Day, with temperatures to get into the mid-30s.
In the country’s far north it's looking like a wet Christmas with the weather bureau predicting a high chance of monsoon with the potential to develop into a tropical cyclone. If it does form, it will be called Cyclone Stan.