Warm start to winter as temperatures in Australian cities up to seven degrees above average

NSW and Queensland are expected to see continued above-average temperatures for the week, according to the Bureau of Meteorology. Photograph: Flavio Brancaleone/AAP

Large swathes of Australia have had an unusually warm first Saturday of winter, with Sydney expected to reach a maximum of 22C and Adelaide expecting a top of 23C.

Maximum temperatures will be warmer than usual for much of the country for the next week, with some areas expected to record temperatures as high as eight degrees above their June average.