Europe’s summer emergency was a dire warning for Australia. What can be learned before it’s too late?
Between 2000 and 2018, extreme heat caused more deaths in Australia than all our bushfires, floods, storms and cyclones combined
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Back in April 2004, in the shadow of the previous European summer, I started work at Downing Street advising the British prime minister on climate change. The 2003 heatwave had killed an estimated 70,000 people across Europe. Many were older people, in homes and neighbourhoods ill-equipped for prolonged heat.
In May this year, I walked through Bordeaux with my 83-year-old mother-in-law in 38C heat. I saw how quickly heat changes the terms of ordinary life. Streets emptied. Shade became essential. The question was not simply the temperature, but whether people could work, sleep or remain safely at home.
That was the European spring. By summer, 42,000 hectares around Gironde and Arcachon surrounding the city had burned. France experienced its worst fires since 1949.
In June, during the Tour de Suisse, the Italian champion cyclist Elisa Longo Borghini suffered heatstroke. She struggled afterwards to remember the final climb. If extreme heat can overwhelm an elite athlete, we should understand the danger it presents to us all.
Europe’s warning is relevant to every Australian city.
Extreme heat is not merely uncomfortable weather. Between 2000 and 2018, extreme heat caused more deaths in Australia than all our bushfires, floods, storms and cyclones combined. Yet it remains under-recognised because it leaves little visible destruction and its effects are often recorded as heart, kidney or respiratory illness rather than heat itself.
And risk is not evenly shared. Older people, particularly those living alone, people with chronic illness, outdoor workers and people in poorly cooled homes are more exposed. As we age, our ability to sense heat, sweat effectively and regulate body temperature can diminish, while thirst can become a less reliable prompt. Staying hydrated must be a habit throughout a hot day, not an afterthought when work is finished.
This has cultural as well as policy implications. We should challenge the idea that a cold beer is enough to manage the impact of hard physical labour in dangerous heat. Or its quieter twin: the carer skipping her own break to help someone else. Nagging your older relatives and checking on neighbours could save a life.
Australians understand seasonal preparation. We do it for bushfires. Governments plan, agencies coordinate, volunteers are mobilised and communities are encouraged to act before danger arrives.
We should bring the same mindset to extreme heat.
The risk is not confined to bushland at the edge of our cities. It may be a hot top-floor apartment, a home with no shade or breeze, or a worksite. It affects the postcodes of Sydney, Melbourne, Brisbane, Adelaide and Perth differently, but is now a national test of whether our homes, cities and services are ready for the climate we have.
Here in New South Wales, the state government and its agencies have recognised heat as a growing risk and strengthened arrangements for declared heatwaves, including clearer roles and updated warnings.
The government can build on these foundations. Our Heat Stress Spotlight Report identifies a critical gap. NSW has improved its response once a heatwave is declared, but dangerous heat does not always meet a formal threshold. Isolated very hot days and heat combined with high humidity can be dangerous too. Emergency arrangements must be complemented by a coordinated, annual system of preparation.
We believe NSW Health can lead a seasonal heat plan through the hotter months. It could help agencies prepare, ensure warnings are clear and trusted, and direct support to those at greatest risk. Exposure to extreme heat can also be reduced through cooler housing, better shade and tree cover, stronger thermal protections for renters and social and Aboriginal housing tenants, and effective workplace heat plans.
NSW also needs consistent public data on heat-related illness and deaths. If we cannot see the burden clearly, we cannot judge whether our responses reach those who need it to prevent avoidable harm.
Responding to hotter summers is work government cannot do alone. Resilient Sydney has helped place heat resilience on the public agenda, including through the Greater Sydney Heat Smart City Plan. Sweltering Cities has made the everyday reality of heat in homes, streets and suburbs impossible to ignore, especially for people least able to avoid it. Their work deserves recognition. It also shows why state government, councils, health services, employers and community organisations need to work together.
Bushfires have flames. Floods leave visible damage. Extreme heat acts silently, accumulating in homes, streets and bodies over days and nights. By the time it becomes visible in emergency departments or mortality figures, the opportunity to prevent much of the harm has passed.
We treat bushfire as a seasonal certainty. It is time we treated heat the same way: by preparing early, coordinating well and protecting people before the next heatwave reaches a street near you.
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