Heat warnings issued across New Brunswick, Nova Scotia for mid-week

A series of heat warnings are in place across New Brunswick and parts of Nova Scotia, with temperatures expected to climb into the low 30s this week.

Environment Canada says a period of “very hot and humid” weather is expected from Tuesday through Thursday.

Daytime highs will vary from near 30 to 33 C, with the humidex expected to reach 40 on Wednesday and Thursday.

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Little relief is expected overnight, with lows of 17 to 24 C in the forecast.

Environment Canada says the hot and humid conditions "could possibly continue into Friday."

"The health risks are greater for older adults, infants and young children, pregnant people, people with physical and/or mental illnesses, and people with disabilities or mobility issues," the warnings read.

"There’s no escaping it. You can’t go up to the cool spots of the different provinces and find some cool areas, this is a gigantic... it is really a very dangerous kind of situation," said David Phillips, senior climatologist with Environment Canada.

As far as wildfire concerns go, experts say they will keep their eyes on the humidity.

"It’s going to be feeling like 44 or 45, that’s humidity in the air. So, as long as we have those humidities, we’re probably looking at 70 per cent humidity, it doesn’t allow for fires to burn very active, so it should keep things pretty good for us," said Roger Collet, a wildfire prevention officer.

Although it's harder for fires to burn with high humidity levels, Collet says firefighters are still ready for every situation.

"Even though humidities are high, we can still have small fires, possibly, maybe something that was left unattended," he said. "We don’t expect them to grow anywhere but we still have to put them out, so our firefighters are our concern with this extreme heat. It’s very hard to do work in those conditions.”

Dan Stovel, a regional emergency management coordinator in Nova Scotia's Kings County, says it's important to do frequent check-ins with family, friends and neighbours during extreme weather situations.

"People don’t drink enough water and that’s one of the things we really push. Drink lots of water or lots of liquids and preferably water if you can throughout this whole period of heat if you’re going to be out," he said.

"Recognizing that heat impacts are greatest from about 11 a.m. until three in the afternoon. If you can avoid going out during those times, do or seek shade. It’s not just that elder population and our children, it’s also recognizing that a lot of our communities have to have workers out there.”