New heatwave warning service

Oct 6, 2022

The Bureau of Meteorology has released a new national heatwave warning service. Photo by Rodney Braithwaite

It’s hard to think about heatwaves during a soggy spring, but the Bureau of Meteorology is planning ahead with the release of a new national heatwave warning service.

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Heatwaves are Australia’s most dangerous environmental hazard, resulting in more community deaths than bushfires, floods, cyclones and severe storms combined.

The new heatwave warning service will provide an alert through the BOM Weather app and bureau website that a heat hazard is forecast within the coming four days, helping Australians to prepare for and lessen the impacts of heatwave events.

The alerts will include heatwave warnings issued by the bureau along with five sets of action statements aligned to heatwave severity, agreed with by partner health and emergency service agencies across Australia.

In the event of a heatwave, heatwave warnings will be issued by the bureau through the BOM Weather app and bureau website, as well as media and social media, with health messages relating to heat provided by state and territory agencies.

A heatwave occurs when the maximum and the minimum temperatures are unusually hot over a three-day period at a location.

This is considered in relation to the local climate and past weather at the location.

For more information on heatwaves, visit the bureau’s website.

By McPherson Media Group