Sydney, Nov 17 (IANS): Health authoritIES in the Australian state of New South Wales (NSW) on Friday urged local residents to plan ahead for extreme heat in the upcoming summer season.

"Extreme heat can cause severe illnesses and can be life-threatening," NSW Chief Health Officer Kerry Chant warned.

"Ahead of what is expected to be a hot summer, we ask our community to ensure they are prepared, know the symptoms of heat-related illnesses and take action to keep cool during heatwaves," she added.

The NSW Ministry of Health also launched a specialised campaign to spread important information about how to keep healthy in hot weather, reports Xinhua news agency.

Given that signs of heat-related illness can include headache, dizziness, nausea and vomiting, fatigue and cramps, the ministry called on people with these symptoms to cool down right away, move out of the sun and seek shade or air conditioning, take a cool shower or bath if possible and take sips of water.

According to the long-range forecast by the Australian Bureau of Meteorology, from December to February, rainfall is likely to be below average across much of northern Australia.

As El Nino continues in the tropical Pacific, both maximum and minimum temperatures are at least 2.5 times more likely than normal to be "unusually high" for much of the country, said the weather bureau.