You can have too much of a good thing Joel Carrett/PA

The heatwave down under is unusual even for Australia – but it may not be so for much longer. The country is in the grip of one of the most ferocious heatwaves on record, and climate change is being held accountable.

The scorching heat began in South Australia and Victoria last week, before spreading to New South Wales and the Australian Capital Territory over the weekend. The heatwave is now moving north through Queensland.

Parts of South Australia and Victoria reached 46 °C, while New South Wales and Queensland recorded temperatures above 47 °C. At least five towns in New South Wales and four in Queensland had their hottest day ever recorded over the weekend.


Moree in northern New South Wales is closest to breaking the state heatwave record of 50 consecutive days over 35 °C. Today marks the 49th day in a row, and the forecast shows no signs of any cooling over the next week.

The heatwave began when a high pressure system stalled over central Australia and caused a build-up of heat, says Karl Braganza at Australia’s Bureau of Meteorology. An approaching front then dragged the hot air towards the east coast.

However, the heatwave would not have been this long and intense if it wasn’t for climate change, says Sarah Perkins-Kirkpatrick at the University of New South Wales in Sydney.

“Usually, you would only get this kind of extreme heat if it was an El Niño summer,” she says. The most recent El Niño phenomenon ended in mid-2016.

A study published by the Climate Council of Australia in 2014 found that heatwaves in Australia are becoming hotter, longer and more frequent. Heatwaves are defined as at least three days of unusually high temperatures.

The average number of annual heatwave days increased from less than three to more than six between 1950 and 2010, the report found. More recent heatwaves have also been 1 to 2 °C hotter.

“Based on past heatwave events, we can see that there’s a discernible contribution of global warming,” says Braganza. In Australia, the average temperature has increased by about 0.9 °C since 1950 and is expected to rise further.

“Without a doubt, these heatwaves will become more regular,” says Perkins-Kirkpatrick. “In 30, 40, 50 years, they will be relatively normal. They might not occur every summer, but they will occur much more often than now.”

The latest heatwave has led to people being admitted to hospital as well as blackouts due to excessive use of air-conditioning. It has also sparked dozens of bush fires in New South Wales that firefighters are still trying to contain.