Hot enough to fry an egg on a car in Australia

SYDNEY (REUTERS) - Video of an Australian police officer frying an egg on the bonnet of his patrol vehicle during a heatwave has gone viral on social media.

The video posted on the Queensland Police Service's Facebook page shows an officer from the town of Birdsville cooking an egg with a frying pan on the hood of his vehicle.

The scene from Big Red, among the famous red sand dunes of Australia's Simpson Desert, has drawn more than 3 million views since it was posted on Friday.

Temperatures in Birdsville usually reach a high of 38 deg C, but soared last Sunday to a record 47.1 deg C.

The extreme heat roiling out of Australia's desert interior has fanned bushfires on the country's east coast, forced the cancellation of major sporting events and put pressure on the electricity grid.