Residents flocked to beaches and pools across the city on Saturday so they could get some reprieve from temperatures that are predicted to hit 30 degrees or more every day until Thursday.
Western Sydney University senior researcher Thomas Longden said short sharp heatwaves, like the one Sydney is experiencing, are the most dangerous because the body struggles to acclimatise and people are less likely to change their behaviours to stay cool when the weather shifts suddenly. His work has found about 2 per cent of deaths in Australia each year are heat-related.
“We haven’t had a hot summer for a while, so the usual things we would do to prepare for a hot day, people won’t do. NSW Health warned on Friday the heatwave conditions could cause dangerous heat-related illnesses, especially among the elderly, babies and children. “It’s a bit of a shock to the system,” Narramore said. “We haven’t seen weather like this for at least three years, even in summer. Last year, we didn’t even hit 30 in spring, or December. It wasn’t until mid-January this year.”