SYDNEY • Sydney recorded its hottest November night as Australia's largest city suffered through a weekend heatwave that saw daytime temperatures peak above 40 deg C.

The overnight temperature did not drop below 25.3 deg C on Saturday into Sunday in central Sydney, according to the meteorology bureau, making it the hottest November night since records began.

The temperature had already hit a scorching 30 deg C by 4.30am yesterday, before reaching above 40 deg C for the second straight day.

"New South Wales is in the midst of a severe heatwave with very warm conditions already being experienced yesterday, and today being a repeat of some of those conditions," said Ms Agata Imielska from the Bureau of Meteorology yesterday.

Daytime records for this month fell elsewhere in Australia's south-east, with the outback towns of Griffith and Mildura reaching 43.2 and 45.7 deg C respectively on Saturday.

The heatwave saw bans on lighting fires imposed across large swathes of New South Wales (NSW), which was badly hit by catastrophic bush fires during the last southern hemisphere summer.

A number of fires broke out yesterday, including one on Sydney's western outskirts that the NSW fire and rescue service said damaged a property.

More than 60 bush fires were still burning across the state, but most had been brought under control by firefighters as a southerly wind change led to a rapid drop in temperatures.

AGENCE FRANCE-PRESSE