Australia weather: heat records broken in Sydney during heatwave – as it happened

10 Feb 201722.45 EST

Queensland contributes power to help other states

Joshua Robertson

Queensland will be “chiming in” with 1,000 megawatts of excess power generation to help other states, the state’s energy minister, Mark Bailey, has said.

That amount, which is what the Australian Energy Market Operator has asked for, is the maximum that can be sent via the power interconnector to New South Wales, Bailey said.

Bailey, a staunch renewable energy advocate bent on trying to lift that sector’s share of state generation to 50% by 2030, noted: “We’re expecting Queensland power to be chiming in through the interconnector to our bigger NSW neighbours to meet their power needs today.”

On most days the Queensland network produces 8,000 MW, with an excess reserve capacity of 2,000 MW.

“This is a classic case of the interconnector [being] a valuable piece of technology, because quite frankly, without Queensland power today, NSW would be in absolute dire straits,” Bailey said.

He criticised the federal government for its attacks on renewable energy.

“The NSW crisis today, where they’ve got a lack of reserve… this is in a state with one of the lowest levels of large-scale renewables in the country,” Bailey said.

“That’s something [the federal government] can’t explain because it doesn’t fit in with their ideological position.”

The ABC has a handy state-by-state guide to when the most unpleasant bit of the heatwave will end.

In summary: on Sunday in SA, on Sunday and Monday in NSW, and Tuesday in Queensland (although later in the north).

In the ACT it’ll cool to “only” 32C on Sunday and be more bearable on Monday.

10 Feb 201722.34 EST

Nick Evershed

A 2014 study by researchers from Macquarie University on the number of heat-associated deaths found there were significantly more heat-associated deaths in the early 1900s, but that there has also been a recent increase in the 2000s:

Here’s the same chart, but showing total deaths rather than a rate of population:

Fire crews “are gaining the upper hand” on that blaze in Georges Plains, Bathurst.

With much of mainland Australia bracing for heatwave conditions, residents in some parts of Tasmania have quite a different weekend ahead.

The forecast for Mt Wellington in Hobart warns of snow above 900m on Sunday and above 1,000m on Monday. The forecast high for each day is 6C and 7C.

Snow was also forecast above 1,000m in Lake St Clair in the state’s central plateau, and above 900m in Liawenee.

Hobart, at least, has a reasonably warm – if wet – weekend ahead, with a forecast high of 22C for Saturday and 17C for Sunday with showers developing.

As NSW, the ACT and South Australia brace for possible heatwave-related power cuts, nearly 10,000 properties in Perth have been left without electricity for another reason.

Heavy rain in WA’s south-west has caused flash flooding, cutting power to 9,000 properties. Perth has come close to having its wettest day, with more than 114mm of rain in the 24 hours to Friday morning – slightly shy of the record 120.6mm that fell on 9 February 1992.

The unseasonal weather also resulted in the city reaching only 17.4C on Thursday, making it Perth’s coldest February day.

A Western Power spokesman there 2,900 homes were still without electricity on Friday morning.

The Bureau of Meteorology duty forecaster, Catherine Schelfhout, said there would be risks of flooding in the upper Swan River in coming days.

“This weather is pretty unusual.”

10 Feb 201722.15 EST

Paul Karp

The Greens have given their two cents on the South Australian blackout at a press conference in Canberra.

The leader, Richard Di Natale, said there was spare capacity that wasn’t used, referring to the second Port Pelican gas generator. He said the blackout was therefore like turning on your fan/refrigerator when it wasn’t plugged in.

Di Natale called Malcolm Turnbull a “climate Judas” because the government is considering supporting “clean coal” technology, which he said amounted to selling out the planet to keep the Liberal leadership.

Sarah Hanson-Young, who is chairing the Senate committee into electricity infrastructure, said the solutions to blackouts were investment in storage solutions, and new rules for the market operator so they could be ordered to bring supply online to keep the lights on.

She questioned why the energy minister, Josh Frydenberg, hadn’t done that, and said the treasurer, Scott Morrison, bringing a lump of coal to question time on Thursday was “a stunt”.

Three students have been hospitalised north of Brisbane after suffering from heat-related problems.

Paramedics treated 16 teenagers at The Lakes College about 10am AEST, and two girls and one boy were taken to hospital as a precaution.

In South Australia, 39 have been admitted to hospital with heat-related illnesses in the past two days, according to SA Health.

People in heatwave conditions have been advised to avoid strenuous physical activity in the heat of the day and to drink plenty of water.

Signs of heat-related illness may include nausea, vomiting, faintness and dizziness, loss of appetite, weakness and headaches.

Canberra residents are being reminded to reduce their electricity use as the temperature rises to 40C in the national capital.

They’ve been told to limit air conditioning by not going below 26 degrees and turning off all unnecessary lighting, the emergency services agency says.

Using dishwashers, dryers and vacuum cleaners should also be avoided to limit non-essential electricity use especially during the afternoon peak period.

“The ACT has been advised due to the potential for record high electricity demand across NSW because of the extreme heat conditions there may be minor supply shortfalls across the network,” the ESA warned on Friday.

The temperature in Canberra hit 37.7C at 1pm, according to the Bureau of Meteorology.

A total fire ban is in place for the ACT on Friday and Saturday.

Last chance to charge your phones ...

The chart below, from the Australian Energy Market Operator, is for New South Wales but the situation is similar for Queensland.