Temperatures have reached 40C in parts of eastern Australia as an autumn heatwave saw fires threaten properties and forced schools to be closed.

Sydney recorded its hottest day in more than two years with temperatures reaching 37.6 (99.7F) as nearly 40 bushfires broke out, while many people flocked to the beach to enjoy the hot weather.

Temperatures in Penrith, which is 35 miles west of Sydney, hit 40.1C (104.2F) on Monday afternoon, while some inland towns reached nearly 41C (105.8F).

Hundreds of firefighters in New South Wales (NSW), which is the home state of one-third of Australians, were battling to protect some homes and buildings as nearly 40 bushfires broke out.

Crews on the ground were supported by aircraft while some residents were warned to leave their area as some fires continued to quickly spread.

Around 35 schools in NSW were closed due to the severe heat.

Angela Burford, operational officer at the NSW Rural Fire Service, told the Australian Broadcasting Corp: “If a fire does start, it’s going to be burning under those difficult conditions…[it’s] harder for our firefighters to get around them, and fire can spread very quickly, particularly in grassland.”

The fire service said “hundreds of firefighters have been kept busy today” across the state and the work will “continue well into the night”.

Dry thunderstorms are also possible across eastern NSW, leading to conditions that could see lightning ignite new fires, the Bureau of Meteorology said.

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Officials said the extreme conditions could bring the greatest risk of fire since the summer fires of 2020.

The hot and dry conditions are likely to persist until Wednesday.

Australia’s east coast has been dominated by the La Nina weather phenomenon – typically associated with increased rainfall – over the last two years, which has brought record rains and widespread flooding.

In 2022, Sydney recorded its highest rainfall since records began in 1858.

But the weather bureau last week said its climate models suggest La Nina was “likely near its end”.

Neutral conditions, which is neither La Nina or its opposite El Nino, were likely to prevail through the southern hemisphere autumn, experts said.

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