Mt Isa road worker's harsh words for city dwellers 'whinging' about the heat

As southeast Queensland swelters through a punishing heatwave this week, one robust resident further north has told people whinging about the heat to stop being sooks.

Christopher Petersen, a traffic control worker from Mount Isa, has issued a stern message to those feeling the strain after the mercury surpassed 40 degrees across the state.

Despite spending endless hours standing in the baking sun, Mr Petersen said he was enjoying the rise in temperature as he laps up the rays on shift.

"It's great here. I'm not even sweating, I think you're a pack of sooks if you're whinging about 36," Mr Petersen told the ABC.

"When it gets hot it's about 48... yeah, that's hot... we don't take our jumpers off until it's 36."

The Bureau of Meteorology said a statewide record of average hot temperatures was broken when the mercury surpassed the previous high of 40.23C, set 12 months ago, to reach 40.51 on Monday.

The outback town of Winton was the hottest place in the state on Wednesday with a top of 46.5, a day after it reached 45.

A third straight hot and humid day comes after southeast Queenslanders were battered by stormy conditions overnight on Wednesday, leaving thousands without power in Logan and Redlands.

The BOM is forecasting hotter conditions in parts of northwest Queensland on Thursday, with Julia Creek tipped to eclipse 46C.

• Police concerns prompt cancellation of 'nudie run' in support of cricket streaker

• CCTV shows moment tiny dog is dumped from bin into rubbish truck

• Appeal over payout for Irish backpacker scalped by conveyor belt

"Across the state as a whole it will probably be slightly cooler but parts of western Queensland might be a little warmer," bureau forecaster James Thompson said.

Mr Thompson said there would be some reprieve on the weekend as temperatures ease across the coastal regions, but remain hot in the state's west.