Perth will be the hottest Australian capital city on Christmas Day, with the city forecast to have its hottest Christmas since 2012.

A low pressure trough drawing a hot air mass towards Australia's west coast will see the mercury reach around 40ºC in Perth on Christmas Eve.

This heat will linger into December 25th, with Christmas day forecast to reach a top of 37ºC. This is about eight degrees above average for this time of year and would be the city’s highest Christmas Day temperature since 39.6ºC in 2012.

But while Christmas in the high-thirties may seem exceptional to many Australians, Perth isn't a stranger to this type of heat in late-December. The city has exceeded 37ºC on Christmas Day 12 times in records dating back to 1897, with three of these getting above 40ºC (1915, 1968 and 2007). The city's hottest Christmas Day on record was 42.0ºC in 1968.