Sydney - Temperatures around Sydney hit 41 degrees Celsius on Friday as parts of the Australian coast went on full alert for bushfires.
Australia’s biggest city had its hottest three-day spell in 79 years, according to the Bureau of Meteorology.
Passengers arriving at Sydney airport at lunchtime were hit with 42.8 degrees while people flocked to the beaches in 41 degrees, the bureau said. Some towns further inland passed 44 degrees.
The heatwave is leading to greater risk of bushfires. Four people were killed in bushfires on the south coast of Western Australia earlier this week.
The New South Wales government warned Friday that heatwaves over 40 degrees would happen more often and last longer in the future.
There would be 10 more heatwave days per year by 2030 and 33 more heatwave days in the north of the state by 2070, the state’s environment department projected in a new report.
DPA