The town of Weipa in Far North Queensland has continued to set weather records during a prolonged heatwave, now reaching 39 consecutive days of temperatures above 36 degrees Celsius.
Parts of Cape York Peninsula and neighbouring Gulf Country have been subject to a severe heatwave warning since the end of October.
It has continued unabated for more than two weeks, with conditions increasing from "severe" to "extreme" for about a week from November 5.
On Tuesday, Weipa also had its hottest November day, with the mercury hitting 39.9C.
Yesterday, the town also matched its 2024 record of 17 consecutive days of temperatures above 37C.
Even long-term locals accustomed to Cape York's hot weather have found the recent spell a bit hard to bear.
Weipa baker Josh Lyon said the "relentless" heat had sent sales of water and cold drinks "through the roof" and even affected his bread dough.
The Cape Animal Protection Shelter based in the town said it had changed its opening hours to protect its dogs and volunteers from the heat.
President Shayna Reeves said the hot, sticky conditions had been persisting "from sun-up to sundown" without reprieve.
"With the dogs, we've been using frozen treats like bones, frozen kongs, making sure their water buckets are regularly topped up … the water just goes hot," she said.
Water levels 'critically low'
Extreme heatwave conditions have also been observed near the tip of Cape York Peninsula, where several Indigenous communities are struggling with water shortages.
Residents of Bamaga, Injinoo, Umagico, Seisia and New Mapoon have had two months of rolling, scheduled water outages at night.
The Northern Peninsula Area Regional Council said its water-treatment plant cannot keep up with demand and reservoir levels were "critically low".
The council is still securing funding to build a new treatment plant, which would increase capacity by 50 per cent.
Lack of air conditioning
For the thousands of Cape York residents living in government housing, being indoors has not offered much respite either.
Of the 3,500 social and community homes across Cape York, just 11 properties had air-conditioning units supplied by Queensland's Department of Housing.
A department spokesperson said this was generally to support tenants with health conditions.
"Installing air conditioners is not standard practice in social housing, but tenants can apply to install their own air conditioners at their own cost," the spokesperson said.
A $213 million program funded by the Queensland and Australian governments aims to improve "thermal comfort and energy efficiency" in up to 40,000 social homes by 2031 through upgrades including energy-efficient fans and ceiling insulation.
Mapoon Aboriginal Shire Council business services manager Bill Guivarra believed air conditioning should be standard issue in social homes in Cape York's climate.
"A lot of our elders don't have air-conditioning units, so, in this weather, it can become unbearable," he said.
Some reprieve next week
Queensland Health urged those in the heatwave-warning zone to take extra care and said it treated only one person for heat stress on Cape York in the past week.
The Bureau of Meteorology said this period leading up to the monsoon was typically the hottest time of year for Northern Australia, with a heatwave warning also current for the Top End of the Northern Territory.
Senior meteorologist David Crock said that while heatwaves were "common" at this time of year, it was "quite notable" to have heatwaves of this length over such a large part of the country.
He said the warning for the Gulf Country and Cape York Peninsula would continue through the weekend and into next week.
"It does look like the heatwave signal eases off a bit towards the latter half of next week," he said.
Mr Crock said monsoonal rain and storms may not arrive until after Christmas.
"There's certainly no sign in the short term of the monsoon arriving in Northern Australia, so we'll be waiting a little while yet to get proper relief."
