An Australian man has broken the world record for the loudest-ever shout.

Joseph McGrail-Bateup, an air conditioner cleaner and honorary town crier, yelled "now" at an ear-splitting 122.4 decibels.

That's about the same as a clap of thunder, a chainsaw or a pneumatic drill.

The 58-year-old said it took him seven attempts to break the record and that his voice was "shot" for days afterwards.

"There's no way that you can actually practise for it," he said. "You have to just keep it for the day, especially with the world record attempt."

He beat the record of Northern Ireland teacher Annalisa Flanagan, who in 1994 yelled "quiet" at 121.7 decibels.

Sound uses a logarithmic scale and is not linear in progression: Every 10db increase is about double the subjective loudness.

The RNID says 130 decibels (about the level of a jet taking off 100m away) is the level where most people experience pain.

Mr McGrail-Bateup said he experimented with some different words before choosing "now" and belted out the new record on 2 May at a radio studio.

The audio was recorded by a professional acoustic engineer with witnesses present and Guinness confirmed the record on Friday.

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The new record holder became town crier in Canberra in 2017 and makes announcements at local events - something he calls a "bit of fun".

He also set a very different record in 2019 when he shot 10 archery arrows in 60.03 seconds.

However, nine months later, a seven-year-old boy beat him by over 11 seconds.