Sydney has sweltered through another record-breaking day in summer of peak heat, with hospitals remaining on alert, power cuts hitting businesses and sports competitions and some horse races scrambling to cancel weekend events.
Subscribe now for unlimited access.
$0/
(min cost $0)
or signup to continue reading
Total fire bans are also in place across NSW on Saturday, with fire danger reaching "severe" levels in the Hunter and four other inland regions of the state. For Sydney, the threat is deemed "very high".
The city clocked up its 10th day of the summer above 35 degrees, with its 37.5-degree top knocking over a record that had stood for 121 years, the Bureau of Meteorology said. Many inland suburbs roasted in 40-plus heat with Penrith nudging 45 degrees.
The latest heatwave will crest on Saturday, with 39 degrees tipped for the city and low to mid-40s across the west. Some relief will arrive for coastal suburbs on Sunday, with 28 degrees now forecast for the CBD area.
For the state, though, Saturday almost all of NSW is likely to average 8 degrees above the February norm, challenging records.
"For NSW, the area coverage of the heat is extremely rare, comparable with events such as the 1939 heatwave that were associated with the Black Friday bushfires in Victoria," Karl Braganza, head of climate monitoring at the Bureau of Meteorology, said, adding that the current record February day for the state was set in 2004.
A slew of February heat records will be in play on Saturday across NSW, as extreme warmth drifted eastwards from the Red Centre of the continent.
Paramedics reported a rise in call outs during the hotter weather for heat-related conditions, with people suffering from sunburn, dehydration and heat exhaustion.
Cricket NSW was among sporting groups to cancel all grades of the sport on Saturday, and junior and senior associations followed suit. Many schools had already alerted parents they could enjoy a lie-in on Saturday rather than encourage their tyros on the sports fields of the state.
"My main concern is that grade cricket does not have the infrastructure in place to safely monitor and manage heatstroke in what is essentially an amateur volunteer-run organisation," John Orchard, Cricket NSW's doctor, said.
The NSW Rugby League abandoned the start of its junior league competition and cancelled women's fixtures.
Racing NSW stewards have moved Randwick's Apollo Stakes meeting from Saturday to Monday because the heatwave conditions.
After representation from leading stables, stewards decided it was better to move the meeting rather than risk horse and rider safety in the heat on Saturday.
Hospitals, such as Westmead Hospital, earlier took proactive steps to protect its patients on Friday, after its emergency department recorded a spike in possible heat-related presentations during the December and January heatwaves.
Hospital general manager Andrew Newton said airconditioning had been diverted from some clerical offices to clinical wards, and non-clinical staff were offered the opportunity to work from home to avoid travelling in the heat.
"Our patients are quite vulnerable during these hot days, so we need to make sure we keep them as comfortable as possible and make sure we have plenty of cold water available," Mr Newton said.
Health and other authorities made repeated pleas on Friday for people to take extra care in the heat, including staying well hydrated, and also reducing their power consumption.
Electricity demand soared towards record levels on Friday evening even as government officials called for people to use less power and the Australia Electricity Market Operator (AEMO) sought reductions in energy use by major consumers to head off possible blackouts.
Tomago Aluminium faced an anxious few hours when its main supplier AGL cut electricity to each of its three potlines for 75 minutes each. AGL told Fairfax the rolling cuts to Tomago were needed to "maintain stability of the electricity system".
"If power to the smelter is not curtailed, schools, homes and other small businesses will suffer a loss of power at the peak periods of demand [Friday] afternoon," an AGL spokesman said.
The cuts drew an angry response from the company and its union, who said AEMO had told them the reductions exceeded the time needed to keep the power system stable.
"You have to ask AGL, why are they doing this?" Matt Howell, Tomago's chief executive, said, adding that a delay in restarting power could damage the potlines and render them useless if electricity did not return within three hours.
The Australian Workers Union asked Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull to intervene.
"Tomago is in a precarious economic position and it cannot afford for AGL to cut power," Daniel Walton, Australian Workers' Union National Secretary, said. "For AGL to do so would be an unimaginable act of bastardy."
