By Tania Martin
AS Melbourne sweltered through one of its worst-ever heat waves last week, residents here clamoured to find a way to keep cool.
Temperatures soared last Tuesday and locals braced themselves as the mercury rose into the high 40s.
At Mt Dandenong, slightly cooler conditions were recorded with 33.3 on Tuesday, 38.8 on Wednesday, 40.2 on Thursday, and an estimated 40 on Friday.
Locals flocked to watering holes and lakes in a bid to cool down with Monbulk Aquatic Centre experiencing one its busiest times recording more than 1432 customers in just four days.
Olinda Swimming Pool also experienced a major influx with more than 740 patrons and Belgrave had 3010.
Meanwhile local commuters sweltered in the city with no way to get home following the cancellation of several Belgrave-bound trains.
On Wednesday 15 services were cancelled and on Thursday a further 11 were shut down.
A Connex spokeswoman said the extreme heat caused the service meltdown.
She said new trains each day were malfunctioning and there was no time to fix the ones that had broken down earlier in the week.
The spokeswoman also said the tracks had also started to buckle and swell due to the heat, causing the cancellation of services.
Foothills residents also experienced several power outages as the heatwave caused the system to falter.
A spokeswoman from power utility, SP Aus-Net said people in the Ferntree Gully and Lilydale areas had experienced outages due to heat-related stress placed on the system.
But she said the utility was working hard to restore power as soon as possible.
Weatherzone meteorologist Matt Pearce said the extreme heat was the result of a spell of northerly wind that had carried hot air down from the interior of the continent.
“In addition, we have what is called a blocking high pressure system out in the Tasman Sea, preventing any cool changes from moving through,” he said.
Mr Pearce on Friday said although a cool change was expected over the weekend, temperatures would remain in the 30s and low 40s this week.
