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Sydney braces itself for heatwave
November 30, 2004 - 7:49AM
NSW is bracing itself for extreme heat on Tuesday, with Sydney in for a scorching 42 degrees - the city's hottest ever November day.
The NSW Ambulance Service has urged people - particularly children, the elderly and the sick - to take precautions to ensure they do not fall victim to heat-induced illness.
Firefighters are on high alert as a total fire ban affects the entire state, and power usage is set to soar as householders run air conditioners.
Parents have been put on notice they may need to collect their children from school, and commuters have even been warned that trains may have to reduce their speed in the heat.
And extra life savers will be on duty as thousands of people are expected to converge on Sydney's beaches.
The precautions come as forecasters predict Sydney will swelter under 42 degrees. This temperature would eclipse the hottest Sydney November day on record, which was 41.8 degrees on November 25, 1982.
The high temperatures are caused by a blanket of hot, dry air flowing in from central Australia, the weather bureau said.
A spokeswoman for the Education Department said it was up to each school principal whether to send students home if conditions became unbearable.
Workers were also warned not to put themselves in danger by taking health and safety risks in the extreme weather.
Legal guidelines were in place for working in extreme heat, including minimum breaks linked to the temperature, Unions NSW secretary John Robertson said.
A RailCorp spokesman said CityRail and CountryLink services would operate 10kph slower in all areas once the temperature reached 38 degrees.
NSW Rural Fire Service Commissioner Phil Koperberg says firefighters are on alert as a total fire ban was imposed across the whole of NSW on Tuesday.
