Millions of Aussies could lose power this week as a heatwave grips the country – amid warnings wet and wild weather will crush ‘every state and territory’.
A total of 347 locations experienced power outages during an unplanned outage in Sydney’s CBD at 3pm, according to an update from Ausgrid.
Power supply is expected to be restored around 5:30 p.m.
NSW Premier Chris Minns acknowledged on Monday that the electricity grid could be under pressure.
“We will provide updates to the community on any potential supply disruptions as soon as possible,” Mr Minns said.
Authorities have also issued blackout warnings for Queensland this week, with the highest risk of blackout times between 3:30pm and 7:30pm.
It comes as a heatwave warning remains in effect for areas in NSW on Tuesday, including a severe warning for the Mid North Coast, Hunter, Metropolitan, Illawarra, South Coast and Southern Tablelands districts.
On Tuesday, Sydney’s CBD was expected to reach 31 degrees Celsius, Adelaide was expected to swelter with 33 degrees Celsius, while Perth was expected to reach 35 degrees Celsius on Friday.
The unplanned disruptions on Tuesday afternoon were a fact
A heatwave warning remains in force for parts of NSW on Tuesday and is expected to worsen on Wednesday before easing later in the week (pictured, Bondi Beach on Sunday)
NSW residents in Batemans Bay, Bowral, Camden, Liverpool, Penrith, Campbelltown, Hornsby, Nowra, Parramatta and Richmond will be sweating as temperatures hit 40 degrees Celsius on Wednesday.
These unusually warm days are 6 to 10 degrees Celsius higher than the typical seasonal average.
The mercury could top 40 degrees Celsius in parts of Sydney as the heatwave continues along the NSW coast this week.
Forecasters are also expecting heavy rain and the chance of severe thunderstorms for all states and territories for the remainder of the week.
Bureau of Meteorology forecaster Jonathan How said warm ocean waters around Australia caused the unsettled conditions, with sea temperatures off the northern coast of Western Australia reaching 32 degrees Celsius.
“As sea surface temperatures rise, the amount of water vapor in the atmosphere, or moisture, increases and this fuels thunderstorms,” Mr How said.
‘We could see cumulative rainfall of more than 50mm in parts of Victoria and the Northern Territory on Wednesday.
“We will start to see rainfall totals increase across NSW and southern Queensland from Thursday and Friday.”
Meteorologist Jonathan How (pictured) warned of heavy rain and the chance of severe thunderstorms was expected for all states and territories
Sydney
Tuesday: Sunny. Chance of thunder. Wind speeds up to 30 km/h. Maximum 31°C.
Wednesday: Mostly sunny. Small chance of showers. Wind speeds up to 25 km/h. Min 21C Max 33C.
Thursday: Showers, up to 10 mm of rain. Chance of thunder. Wind speeds up to 20 km/h. Min 22C Max 30C.
Friday: Showers, up to 20 mm of rain. Chance of thunder. Wind speeds up to 20 km/hour. Min. 20C Max. 25C.
Melbourne
Tuesday: Medium chance of showers, up to 5 mm of rain. Chance of thunder. Maximum 25°C.
Wednesday: Showers, up to 9 mm of rain. Chance of thunder. Wind speeds up to 20 km/h. Min 21C Max 28C.
Thursday: Small chance of showers. Wind speeds up to 25 km/h. Min 16C Max 24C.
Friday: Medium chance of showers. Chance of thunder. Wind speeds up to 25 km/h. Min 16C Max 26C.
Brisbane
Tuesday: Small chance of showers. Wind speeds up to 20 km/hour. Maximum 29C.
Wednesday: Medium chance of showers. Wind speeds up to 20 km/hour. Min 21C Max 29C.
Thursday: Medium chance of showers. Wind speeds up to 20 km/hour. Min 23C Max 30C.
Friday: Medium chance of showers. Wind speeds up to 20 km/hour. Min 23C Max 29C.
The severe thunderstorms will bring damaging winds, large hail and heavy rain, with the risk of flooding in some parts of the country (pictured, forecast storms across Australia)
Canberra
Tuesday: Medium chance of showers. Chance of thunder. Wind speeds up to 30 km/h. Maximum 31°C.
Wednesday: Showers, up to 10 mm of rain. Chance of thunder. Wind speeds up to 30 km/h. Min 17C Max 28C.
Thursday: Medium chance of showers. Chance of thunder. Wind speeds up to 20 km/hour. Min 15C Max 29C.
Friday: Showers, up to 20 mm of rain. Chance of thunder. Wind speeds up to 20 km/h. Min 14C Max 27C.
Hobart
Tuesday: Small chance of showers. Wind speeds up to 20 km/h. Maximum 24°C.
Wednesday: Showers, up to 20 mm of rain. Chance of thunder. Wind speeds up to 25 km/h. Min 15C Max 24C.
Thursday: Showers. up to 15 mm of rain. Wind speeds up to 30 km/h. Min 12C Max 17C.
Friday: Small chance of showers. Wind speeds up to 20 km/hour. Min. 11C Max. 18C.
Adelaide
Tuesday: Showers. Chance of thunder. Wind speeds up to 25 km/h. Maximum 33°C.
Wednesday: Showers, up to 5 mm of rain. Chance of thunder. Wind speeds up to 30 km/h. Min 15C Max 23C.
Thursday: Small chance of showers. Wind speeds up to 25 km/h. Min 13C Max 22C.
Friday: Small chance of showers. Wind speeds up to 20 km/hour. Min 13C Max 25C.
Mr How large parts of the country could reach and even exceed average monthly rainfall for November on Friday evening (photo, CBD workers in Brisbane dodge the rain)
Perth
Tuesday: Sunny. Wind speeds up to 40 km/h. Maximum 25°C.
Wednesday: Sunny. Wind speeds up to 30 km/hour. Min 13C Max 28C.
Thursday: Sunny. Wind speeds up to 30 km/h. Min 16C Max 32C.
Friday: Small chance of showers. Chance of thunder. Wind up to 30 km Min 21C Max 35C.
Darwin
Tuesday: Showers. Chance of thunder. Maximum 32°C.
Wednesday: Showers, up to 10 mm of rain. Chance of thunder. Min 25C Max 32C.
Thursday: Showers, up to 10 mm of rain. Wind speeds up to 20 km/h. Min 26C Max 33C.
Friday: Showers, up to 15 mm of rain. Chance of thunder. Min 26C Max 33C.