Wednesday night may be on the cool side for Queensland visitors to the opening State of Origin match at Homebush but the overall conditions could hardly be better for football.

Sydney may be scorching right now, but be warned - the worst is yet to come.

Going to Sea World isn't a walk in the park for the animals kept in captivity, say campaigners.

The remarkable global heat for 2015 is not yet over and already forecasters are predicting next year will be hotter again - marking three years in a row of record annual warmth.

The trough that brought a series of storms to Canberra on Saturday is expected to affect the region until Monday.

Sydneysiders can expect rising humidity in coming days, making the apparently endless summer seem a bit more uncomfortable.

Enjoy the sunshine at the start of this week, as the the grey clouds and rain that have become all-too-familiar visitors in recent times are due to roll in again come Wednesday.

Federal Water Minister Keith Pitt says the government remains determined to build new dams in the Murray-Darling Basin, rejecting comments from a leading researcher that climate change would reduce the likelihood that they would fill. 

They said it would never fill. Now it has spilled.

Thunderstorms have rumbled their way across Sydney for the ninth consecutive day, with more thunder and lightning on the horizon throughout Monday morning and into the afternoon.

Spring's full bloom will be on show this week in ways that hay fever sufferers will be all too aware.

In a town regarded as one of the world's hottest, Marble Bar locals are still reminded to take care as the mercury hit 48 degrees Celsius on Monday.

After 16 years of observations, the world's new lightning capital has been named.

Sydney will likely come close to notching its hottest day this late in the summer for 12 years - and there won't be much early relief.

Unless you've been inside a 200kmh blast of wind it's hard to imagine the tremendous natural force behind it.