Sydney : Australia’s most populous city Sydney experienced a burst of sweltering spring heat, raising the risk of bushfires and prompting authorities to issue a ban on lighting fires.
Australia’s national weather forecaster said temperatures in the New South Wales capital, home to 5.6 million people, were expected to hit 33 degrees Celsius, nearly 13C above average.
At Sydney Airport, temperatures reached 28.6C, more than seven degrees above the average maximum temperature for September, according to weather forecaster data.
State fire authorities issued a total fire ban for Sydney, where they rated fire risk as “extreme”, the second highest danger rating.
The heatwave comes as the El Nino weather pattern in the Pacific, expected to be among the strongest in decades, drives hotter and drier conditions across southern Australia during the period from September to November.
