Extreme heat is altering when, where and how we travel: new research

fcafotodigital/Getty Before booking a holiday, it pays to check the weather.

Rain can turn a joyful trip into a glum stretch of days.

Soaring temperatures are making sunny summers less appealing.

And destructive fires , floods and other natural disasters often lead to tourist evacuations.

Australians are keen travellers.

In 2025 alone, we made about 113 million overnight trips locally and more than 12 million trips abroad.

We also live in one of the world’s most heatwave-prone nations , meaning Australians are exposed to unpredictable weather at home.

But just how much does weather influence the behaviour of Australian tourists? That’s the question at the core of our new study , which we believe is the first to reveal how Australians’ travel choices are being shaped by our rapidly changing climate .

Holidaying in heat For our new study , we conducted a national online survey to unpack how weather influences when, where and how Australians travel.

We found a fifth of the 2,292 people we surveyed had changed their most recent holiday because of weather.

This included 8% who had been affected by fires, floods or storms, and 6% who had been affected by heavy rain.

However, our main interest was heat.

Extreme heat poses an urgent threat to human health.

It kills thousands of people each year, and research suggests this figure is rising due to the effects of human-induced climate change.