UPDATE: The temperature reached 40.1 degrees just before 3.30pm in Bendigo and surrounding areas, and could continue to climb.
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The temperature has steadily grown over the day, after getting to 35 degrees at midday.
CFA crews attended a small scrub fire in Timor-West, near Maryborough that was declared under control just before 1pm.
Another small fire that sparked in Echuca just before 2pm was contained to a garden bed.
Police attended but said it was not suspicious.
Bendigo passed 32 degrees at 10.00am.
Redesdale also raced above 30 this morning, while Mangalore was sitting at 33.5 degrees at 10am.
Last night was a doona-free night for most in the region, with the temperature not dipping below 20 degrees until 4am.
A low of 18.8 was reached at 6am but the thermostat jumped back up to 25.1 degrees in Bendigo by 7.30am.
The next six days are expected to be the hottest period since the 2009 bushfire season.
With northerly winds and extremely dry conditions today's heat looms as one of the worst days of bushfire danger in years, authorities have warned.
A Total Fire Ban is in place across the state and a severe fire danger rating has been issued for the Northern Country and North Central regions.
The CFA said the Loddon Mallee region has yet to receive any major call outs this morning but are on high alert.