Marree: I live in the hottest town in the WORLD: Here’s what this week was like as temperatures hit a scorching 54C

An Australian outback town experienced the world’s hottest day, with even the chickens having to cool off in the air conditioning.

To show how unbearably hot it was in Marree, about 660km north of Adelaide, on Thursday one local posted a photo on Facebook with a hand-held thermometer reading 54C.

“Well, if 36 is hot, what is it?” – he captioned the photo.

Lyall Oldfield, owner of Marree Roadhouse and Caravan Park, told Daily Mail Australia it had been “hot in the city for a few days”.

“I actually went to work in the park and the bloody hot wind almost knocked me off the forklift,” Mr Oldfield said.

The provincial town of Murray had the hottest day in the world on Wednesday, with temperatures reaching 54 degrees (pictured)

Much of Australia, especially New South Wales, will be sweltering (national heat forecast pictured)

“It’s hot as hell in here and I have a hundred chooks running around on my half-acre property, so I turned on the air conditioning to keep them cool.”

The scorching heat forced his staff to start and finish work early, but Mr Oldfield said locals were hardened to the hot conditions.

“You just get used to it… it didn’t get any hotter or cooler. It’s just still very hot,” he said.

Marree was among 15 rural towns across Australia that recorded some of the world’s warmest temperatures.

Sydney could experience its hottest day in nearly four years on Saturday, with temperatures forecast to reach 42C.

Global temperature site El Dorado Weather recorded 10 cities across the country where temperatures exceeded 45°C.

Olympic Dam Airport, also in South Australia, recorded the second highest temperature at 46.1C, followed by Marble Bar in northern Western Australia, which reached 45.7C.

The Bureau of Meteorology says high temperatures will continue until the end of next week, with heat wave warnings in place across much of Australia except Tasmania.

People are urged to stay home during the hottest parts of the day and drink plenty of water to stay hydrated.