Sydney records hottest August day in seven years amid high fire danger from warm, windy weather

The sun rises over North Bondi as the BoM says Sydney’s temperatures have been ‘way above’ averages for August. Photograph: Mike Bowers/The Guardian

Sydney has recorded its hottest August day in seven years as unusually warm and windy weather sweeps across New South Wales, triggering high fire danger.

Sydney’s temperatures shot “way up above the averages for August”, said Angus Hines, a senior meteorologist at the Bureau of Meteorology (BoM). The city’s average August temperature is 17.9C.