Perth's freakish weather

If ever you wanted the true definition of ‘temperamental’, the sudden change in weather in Perth over the past 12 hours would be it.

Temperatures reached their highest in four years for November yesterday, climbing to 37 degrees Celsius by early afternoon, followed by an insistent 31 degrees come 6pm.

But that all changed this morning, when at around 5am lightning struck hard across the WA capital, along with continuous thunder and downpours of rain.

After yesterday’s two dozen rescues across various Perth beaches, due to heat-related incidents, Surf Life Saving WA closed several beaches this morning – but for a very different reason. City Beach, Sorrento, Mullaloo and North Cottesloe beaches were all off-limits for two hours due to strong lightning that was deemed dangerous.

All beaches were reopened by 9am, after the storm passed.  Antonino Tati