It always feels a little strange, even at the height of summer, to be fretting about the heat in this part of the world.
Much of Otago - Dunedin, especially, and obviously pretty much everywhere on the coast - simply doesn't face the sort of consistent waves of warmth that have the potential to cause major disruptions to our lives.
Our concerns have generally been targeted at the ability of our housing to withstand severe winters, the state of some of our ice-prone roads, and the costs of keeping warm.
Nevertheless, New Zealand is, depending on which definition you accept, in the middle of a heatwave, and it isn't a bad time to think about this happening more often in the future. That is assuming we are prepared to believe the overwhelming majority of scientists who indicate the planet is only going to get hotter.
As this newspaper reported last week, heatwaves can kill and we are likely to get more of them. On top of that, New Zealand does not have a heat health plan, nor even a formal definition of ''heatwave'', which is not ideal.
There are wide-ranging ramifications for societies that are not equipped to handle the heat.
The principal concern is the health of people more accustomed for much of the year to reaching for a sweatshirt than thinking about the dangers presented by the climbing mercury.
Minor and significant health issues - anything from rashes to sunburn to heat exhaustion - can arise if we are not prepared.
Many are already reporting difficulty sleeping due to the higher than expected night temperatures, and the associated effects on their physical, mental and emotional state.
Other issues can be about the big picture. Schools need to consider their plans to cope with the heat or, in extreme circumstances, close the doors if required. Councils have various transport and power supply challenges to tackle in high temperatures. Farmers have a heightened level of responsibility to ensure their stock have adequate water, potentially at a time when stress levels due to lack of rain are rising.
Of all the possible issues created by a heatwave, perhaps none provokes such an intense emotional reaction as the unforgivable action of leaving children in cars.
Twice in as many days, national attention has been directed to a case of an adult leaving youngsters to cook in a sweltering vehicle.
That is incredibly dangerous, staggeringly irresponsible and may be fatal. If the message is not hitting home - if people genuinely see nothing wrong with leaving our most vulnerable humans in a temporary oven - we need to revisit either education concerning the issue or the punishment handed out.
Be smart in this heat. Drink plenty of water, seek out shade, use air conditioning, dress appropriately, make smarter choices about activity, and look for methods to cool your body temperature before bed. And for heaven's sake, don't even think about leaving small children unattended in a vehicle.
