Melbourne records hottest March night on record

Melbourne has broken the record for its hottest night in March, as temperatures hovered around 30 degrees last night.

Melburnians were left tossing and turning through the sweltering night, with the lowest temperature of 27.7 degrees recorded just before 1am today, according to the Bureau of Meteorology.

The overnight record prior to yesterday was 26.9 degrees recorded on March 18 in 2008.

“We comprehensively beat that record,” senior forecaster Richard Carlyon told AAP.

The weather bureau says some relief is on the way, with a moderate cool change which has seen temperatures back in the mid-20s today - slightly more bearable than yesterday’s top of 40 degrees.

Melbourne's CBD hit 38.9 degrees yesterday, just 2.7 degrees below the hottest March day ever recorded on March 11 in 1940.

But the city still recorded its hottest March day in eight years, the suburb of Moorabbin hitting an uncomfortable 40.8 degrees.

During the next four nights the sticky humidity is expected to remain with unseasonably high overnight temperatures in the 20s.

Cooler conditions are forecast for the weekend but Victorians should not expect a big drop in temperatures - it's anticipated to still reach the high 20s next week.