Sydney smashes 1 October heat record as Victoria fights bushfires

Sydney Airport’s mercury got up to 36.9C and Penrith’s peaked at 37.3C on the city’s hottest start to October ever. Photograph: Mike Bowers/The Guardian

Sydney has endured its hottest ever start to October on record as fire danger warnings were issued across NSW – and as two bushfires threatened campers and towns in eastern Victoria.

According to data from the Bureau of Meteorology, two years had tied for Sydney’s hottest 1 October on record: 33.1C was recorded at Observatory Hill weather station in both 1961 and 2009.