With the men's cricket Test series between Australia and India locked at 1-1 going into the Boxing Day Test at the MCG, the action was always going to be hot onfield with just two matches remaining in the five-Test Border-Gavaskar series.

Now the first day will be even hotter, thanks to a sizzling 41-degree day which is set to bake Melbourne this Thursday, December 26.

• Melbourne had a cool start to the week with a maximum of just 18.5°C on Monday (and apparent or "feels like" temps that were around four degrees cooler all day).
• But Monday's cool southwesterlies will give way to blustery northerlies on Thursday, with the mercury likely to peak at 41°C on Thursday afternoon before a cooler showery change arrives after stumps.
• Thursday will be hot right across Victoria, with widespread maximums of 40°C and 41°C, ranging up to 42°C and 43°C at some locations in the Mallee and Wimmera forecast districts in the state’s north and west.
• Melbourne's average December maximum is 24.2°C.

Image: Forecast max temps across Victoria on December 26 (Boxing Day) with areas of dark red or pink indicating highs of 40°C or above. 

Melbourne is of course famous for its wildly fluctuating weather. Sometimes you get the classic "four seasons in a day" type weather. Other times – like this week – you get what feels like four seasons within the space of a few days.

The good news is that after the uncomfortably hot Boxing Day, Melbourne will settle into a pattern of relatively stable weather with much milder top temps in the mid-to-high twenties forecast for days two to five of the Test.

Weatherzone is a weather service, not a cricket advice site, but we'd be batting on Boxing Day to avoid fielding in the MCG furnace if we won the toss!