By almost any measure the extended heatwave currently affecting the south of the country is the longest since temperature records began over 120 years ago, according to weatherzone.com.au Adelaide has reached a maximum temperature of 35 degrees or more each day since the third of this month, today taking the run to nine consecutive days. This sets a new autumn record for the southern capital, where temperature records commenced in 1887. On Thursday it is likely Adelaide’s run of 35 degree days will reach 11 – beating the longest for any month previously set during the heatwave of January 1939, which included the notorious ‘Black Friday’ bushfire disaster across southeast Australia. No significant cool change is likely to bring relief to the heat across South Australia until at least the middle part of next week.