The Bureau of Meteorology has recently released a new national heatwave warning service.
The new service will come in the form of an alert on the BOM Weather app and the bureau website that a heat hazard is forecast within the next four days, allowing Australians to prepare for and lessen the impacts of a heatwave event.
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 services agencies across Australia. Additionally, in the event of a heatwave, warnings will be issued by the bureau with health messages relating to heat provided by state and territory agencies.
The release of these new alerts follows a successful trial with bureau-partnered health and emergency service agencies that showed information was more timely and ensured health departments were better equipped to assist those vulnerable to heatstroke.
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 and the new alerts visit the bureau's website.