Melbourne weather: Victorians to roast through a Christmas heatwave

Get ready for a Christmas scorcher. 

Victoria has issued a health alert for the Christmas Day heatwave and a total fire ban will be in place from Christmas Eve.

Emergency and health officials are calling on Victorians to prepare for the hot and humid conditions, with five days of 30 degrees or more forecast from Saturday.

The Bureau of Meteorology has raised its forecast to a humid 33 degrees for Melbourne on Christmas Eve, with Christmas Day expected to be a sticky 35 degrees.

The moist heat will hamper those sleeping off the Christmas binge, with the weather bureau forecasting a hot, uncomfortable Christmas night in Melbourne.

Read Marika Dobbin Thomas’s story in the Melbourne Age -  “Melbourne weather: Victorians to roast through a Christmas heatwave.”