Short, sharp and unexpected: Why Sydney’s heatwave could prove deadly

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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.

“Looking at the death-record data for the capital cities of Australia, when the three-day average is at least seven degrees hotter than the 30-day average, those heatwaves tend to be more deadly,” he said.

“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.

“A lot of people are simply going to get caught out because they were expecting a usual spring day, and they have planned their weekend without thinking about how hot it is going to get.”