Too hot even for the koalas

We complain whenever the weather gets too hot for us - but spare a thought for friends and relatives in Australia. Over there, even the koalas are suffering.

Retired policeman Ned Rouse, of Melbourne, visited ShropshireStar.com to take his mind off the heatwave currently baking his city and the bushfires raging in the countryside.

Ned wanted to see pictures of our recent snowfall and icy weather - it's so hot where he is that a pair of wet jeans will dry within two minutes on a washing line.

Ned was intrigued by our picture galleries of the weather - which you can see by clicking here.

It's a completely different situation Down Under, says Ned. Even the koala bears, which are not known for their friendliness, have been walking up to people in order to get a drink.

"Koalas generally never drink water," says Ned. "They receive all the fluids they need from eucalyptus leaves!"

• To see more koala pictures visit the website of the Melbourne Herald Sun newspaper, here

• Anyone wishing to assist the fire victims can contact www.redcross.org.au

Ned has sent in some pictures of the heatwave, which you can see over the following pages.

He says: "The leaves on trees are like potato crisps and dropping off. People's tomatoes are cooking on the bushes, and in eight weeks we will probably have heaters on! That's Melbourne."

By Andrew Owen

Ned says central Melbourne recently sweltered through its hottest day since records started in 1855. Temperatures hit 46.4 degrees.

"My wife and I spent all day inside with the air conditioner on watching the complete series of Doc Martin on DVD," he adds.

"Then we had a power blackout and no electricity for 18 hours."

Says Ned: "How much of this heat can a Koala bear? Possoms are literally dropping out of the trees dead! Melbourne's morgue is overflowing.

"It's time for a flamin' long coooool Fosters, I'd say! And to think the Pommies have warm beer. No wonder they lost an empire.

"Some galahs have to work in this heat in suit and tie. Ha! Serves them right."

Ned told Shropshirestar.com: "This poor koala must have been desperate for a drink to go near humans like this.

"Glad it found some blokes that cared enough to stop and give it a drink.

"These pictures were taken in Adelaide recently when they had that run of plus 43C. Everyone, including the animals, needed a drink."nextpage

Ned says the bitumen on the roads is very sticky and melting in the sun.

"Our dams are empty and the hospitals full of burns and heat affected folks.

"The fire front travelled extremely fast, perhaps 20 to 30 kmh and well over a hundred feet high for most of the time.

"This was compounded by 80kmh winds which carried burning embers into the air to come down kilometres from where they started and they subsequently started new fires which soon amalgamated with the parent one.

"The toll on wildlife will be shattering, with perhaps Koalas suffering the most. The poor blighters climb higher up the trees to escape the heat and trap themselves when the eucalyptus tree literally explodes in a giant fireball.

"The poor firefighters had to wear essential protective clothing in 47C heat. Not very nice.

"At the end of the day I gave Julia a big hug, she made me an ice coffee and we went to bed after watching those whingeing blighters in the northern hemisphere complain about a little ice on the roads!

"Oh, and all these temperatures are measured in the shade. In the sun it is literally intolerable, with my thermometer reaching 52C."

Ned says he is no stranger to bushfires.

He took this picture in 1982 during bushfires that threatened the Victorian town of Bright.

Another of Ned's fire pictures from the 1982 disaster, this time showing flames around the Alpine Hotel in the town of Bright.