EIGHTEEN weather stations in south-eastern Australia recorded their hottest November days on record last week.

Last week the country sweltered through one of the most significant spring heatwaves ever.

The Bureau of Meteorology has issued a special climate statement describing how the event started with a build-up of extreme heat in central Australia over the weekend of November 24 and 25.

Extreme heat covered much of Victoria, inland NSW and northern and eastern South Australia while the abnormally hot weather also spread to Tasmania.

The highest temperature of the heatwave was 46.2C in Pooncarie in NSW.