Is Melbourne ready for summer?

It's Melbourne's third consecutive day over 43 degrees. The power is out. Trains are at a standstill after the rails buckle and warp in the heat.

Melbourne is set for a hot summer of warmer than average days and nights.

Ambulances and hospitals struggle to cope with massively increased patient numbers.

The sweltering conditions are more deadly than a bushfire, claiming hundreds of lives.

This isn't some dystopia. It already happened, in 2009.

And many fear Melbourne might experience such extreme conditions again this summer.

Read Debbie Cuthbertson’s story in today’s Melbourne Age - “Is Melbourne ready for summer?”