WARWICK'S town planners are yet to "quantify the risks" of predicted flash floods from climate change.

Civil engineering experts say it is time to act after new research analysing three decades of weather patterns revealed rising temperatures could bring massive downpours and destructive flooding to the region.

The dire prediction suggests peak rainfall patterns will intensify as the Warwick region heats up.

Southern Downs Regional Council's engineering services director Peter See said the organisation had yet to look into the risk.

"No work has been conducted on quantifying the risk and dangers of flash flooding increasing across the foreseeable future," he said.

"In order to protect residents and infrastructure from flash floods, the council has carried out stormwater studies for Warwick, Stanthorpe and Killarney.

"No funding has yet been set aside by the council to fund capital work improvements.

"However, general maintenance is carried out on existing stormwater networks."

University of New South Wales professor Ashish Sharma said Warwick and every other Australian urban centre was at risk.

"It means that most people in Australia can expect to see intensification in the magnitude of flash flooding in smaller catchments, particularly in urban or residential areas," he said.

Professor Sharma and his School of Civil and Environmental Engineering colleagues based their findings on 30 years of data collected at 79 weather stations across the country.

Stations monitored included those at Longreach, Kingaroy, Oakey, Rockhampton, Amberley, Gympie, Mackay and Maryborough.

"We have linked increased temperatures to less uniform rain patterns within storms," lead researcher Conrad Wasko said.

"This suggests that more rainfall will be dumped over a shorter duration."