Brisbane to swelter as Cairns-like condition hits the capital

Heatwave conditions bearing down on Queensland’s south-east are expected to push electricity demand to an all-time high on Friday, and prompting warnings from health authorities.

Ipswich is forecast to reach a high of 37 degrees on Friday, and 36 on Saturday, with parts of Brisbane expected to reach similar temperatures over the next 48 hours.

With high humidity and little reprieve from overnight minimums in the mid-20s, the Bureau of Meteorology has issued a low-intensity heatwave warning for most of the south-east corner and east coast, including pockets of severe intensity.

Senior meteorologist Harry Clarke said while the temperatures would fall short of records, they would be a “shock to the system” for many people after what had been a cooler summer.

“What we typically look at instead for gauging how muggy or uncomfortable [conditions are] is the dew point, and lately, many parts of eastern Queensland have been around 25-degree dew points,” Clarke said.

“So that’s more akin to what we typically see in places like Cairns or Darwin in the middle of the wet season – so certainly very muggy.”

Conditions are expected to ease from Sunday, when a southeasterly change can “flush out” the warm humid air being pulled down from the state’s north, Clarke said.

Severe heatwaves can be dangerous to many, especially older people, babies and those with medical conditions, with the bureau and health authorities advising people to seek out a place to keep cool during the hottest part of the day.

“If you have friends, family or neighbours that are at particular risk check in on them,” Queensland Health’s disaster management branch head Dr Peter Aitken said in a statement.

Extreme heat is broadly accepted to have killed more people than all other natural disasters in Australian history, and is likely to kill at a higher rate as global temperatures rise due to climate change.

Energy Minister Mick de Brenni said the expected weather conditions had led the Australian Energy Market Operator to forecast a record peak for demand on Friday afternoon of about 10,400 megawatts.

De Brenni said the figure “exceeds significantly” the record of 10,085MW set in March last year, amid heatwave conditions across the state’s north.

“People using air-conditioners throughout the course of the day is going to see increased levels of demand and pressure on that system,” he said.

“But the assurance that I want to provide to Queensland households and businesses is that our energy system is ready – now it will be tight, but the system will be manageable.”

After a series of incidents with equipment failures took the state-owned Callide power station near Biloela offline in November, de Brenni said the “full complement” of power supply was expected to return this year.

De Brenni was speaking from Ipswich to launch the first of 35 neighbourhood batteries being rolled out in the area to take advantage of high rooftop solar use and provide stored renewable energy during evening peaks.

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