Maitland (41), Cessnock (40), Singleton (41) are all set to tip 40 degrees, while Newcastle is expected to reach a top of 32.

According to the Bureau of Meteorology, Thursday is expected to bring a hot, sunny morning followed by a chance of thunderstorms in the afternoon.

Heatwave conditions have been predicted for the Hunter. The BOM urges people to take precautions to stay cool, and follow advice from NSW Health.

Friday will bring a bit of relief, with tops of 32-35 degrees around the Hunter Valley before the mercury climbs above 35 again on Saturday.

There is also a high chance of showers on Saturday afternoon and later in the evening.

Due to the high temperatures forecast by the Bureau of Meteorology Ausgrid is changing its maintenance schedule.

In places where temperatures are forecast to reach 40 degrees planned maintenance work has been cancelled, except in cases where customers agree to the work going ahead. In other areas the length of any planned work has been shortened to lessen the impact on customers.

Operators are reviewing the network to ensure it is well placed to handle the extreme temperatures and any rise in demand for electricity.

“Our emergency crews are ready to respond if there are any unplanned interruptions to the power supply to our customers,” Ausgrid Chief Operating Officer Trevor Armstrong said.

“We understand any outage to our customers is inconvenient and our focus is on safely restoring power in these situations as quickly as possible.” he said.

Ausgrid’s network covers parts of the Central Coast and the Hunter.

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