Just after 10:30 this morning Perth broke a record, for the most number of heatwaves in the November-March period since records began in 1897. A heatwave in Perth is defined as three or more consecutive days at or above 35 degrees. Perth reached 35 degrees just after 10:30am, making it three days in a row of 35 degrees or hotter, hence achieving its eighth heatwave since the beginning of November. This breaks the previous November-to-March record of seven heatwaves, set in 1977/78. The city today had its hottest March day in five years, reaching 41.1 degrees just after 1:30pm today. This comes after reaching 39.5 degrees on Saturday and 38.9 on Friday. And this heatwave is not over yet. It is forecast to exceed 35 degrees again tomorrow before a cooler, more humid change moves through. The cooler change will not be particularly strong so is unlikely to bring any rain. As early as Tuesday winds will turn from southerly to southeasterly, allowing it to warm to near 30 degrees each day until at least early next week. It's early days but this month has the ingredients of being one of the warmest Marchs on record. And this comes after the fourth hottest summer on record. With two heatwaves already this month, the average maximum is 35.3 degrees, about six above average and the hottest start to March on record. The previous hottest first 11 days of March was in 1979, when the average maximum was 34.8 degrees.