Sydney has officially been crowned the hottest place on the planet at the moment, as a heatwave last weekend sent temperatures to a staggering 43.5C. The iconic Australian city, a perennial favourite for British expats and sun-seeking tourists alike, saw the new record last Saturday. As Britons shiver through a damp January, Sydneysiders have been plunged into unbearable summer heat.
According to local reports, the highest temperature was recorded at the Holsworthy military base in the city’s southwest, where the mercury touched 43.5C. The reading briefly made the Harbour City the hottest spot on the globe, outstripping even the usual hotspots in Africa and the Middle East.
Another major record is that this year marked the first time in thirteen years that Sydney topped 42C twice in a single summer, following a similarly brutal December scorcher. The heatwave also caused bushfires later slowed by authorities.
“We do lose people on these incredibly hot days,” Premier of New South Wales Chris Minns said, saying that the extreme heat causes deaths in Australia.
The weather has already cooled down to a more comfortable 26C. Over the weekend, the city is expecting 60% showers throughout the day, according to the Met Office.
Geographically, Sydney acts as a natural heat trap. While the eastern suburbs benefit from Pacific breezes, the sprawling western plains are hemmed in by the Blue Mountains, which block cooling air and allow hot, dry winds from the desert interior to pool over the suburbs.
This, combined with the modern urban heat island of dark roofs and asphalt, creates a staggering temperature divide where inland areas like Holsworthy and Penrith can be up to 10C hotter than the coast.
