That will drag on. All week. Thankfully, on Friday Canberra is set to have a minimum of 16 and a high of 29 - that’s right, a high temperature that is no longer in the 30s. Thank goodness.

Understandably, many Canberrans hit the coast to cool off for the long weekend. While being frivolous at the beach there are serious things to remember.

In last week’s Sunday Canberra Times, we reported that lifesavers, paid and volunteer, had rescued about 200 people on beaches on the south coast this summer. That could potentially mean 200 lives saved from drowning.

As Julie Power reports in today’s paper, drownings from rips exceed all deaths from sharks, floods and cyclones. Rips are the number one threat to life on beaches.

Of those who drowned in a rip, 56 per cent could touch the bottom when they got into trouble. Young men account for 86 per cent of drownings - the average age is 36.

But if you can remember and pass on one piece of information that would save you or a friend from drowning, then this is it (aside, of course, from swimming between the flags).

“[If you're stuck in a rip] the trick is to stay calm,” says Queenscliff lifesaver Tim Hayes.

“Raise your arm and float and go with it.”

As soon as you start to panic, your heart rate increases and you lose the ability to think straight. A rip won’t take you to New Zealand, it will take you out to just behind the breakers where it stops.

So remember that if you’re at the beach this long weekend.

If you’re cooling off at a river or an inland waterway, be sure to keep an eye out for those around you. Under-currents, submerged objects like logs, and murky water making depths uncertain can and have claimed lives.

Pets in hot cars a big no-no

Did you know it takes just six minutes for an animal to die in a hot car? And in this weather, that outcome is very likely. Sadly, in December the RSPCA ACT recorded 46 animals trapped in cars. The ACT government is putting in place penalties for this kind of offence. It would mean anyone caught with an animal trapped in a car would face fines of up to $3000 or be jailed for up to a year.

The message is especially poignant at this time of year, and it can’t be reiterated enough. Pets do not belong in hot cars.

Thankfully, ACT Policing has not been called out to any incidences involved babies or children left in hot cars in Canberra this summer.

In weather such as this, it's important to look out for ourselves and others in the community.

Vigilance for your own safety, and that of your neighbours, family and friends, could be the difference between life and death.