Sydney heatwave: Scorching temperatures record hottest January night in five years

Sydneysiders experienced yet another sweltering morning, with temperature reaching 36.5 degrees Celsius at 9AM on Wednesday. The previous record for the highest temperature for the same time of the day was set in December 1955, when the mercury levels recorded 35 degrees Celsius.

At 6AM on Wednesday, the temperature was still lingering over 30 degrees Celsius. While Sydney’s west was cooler overnight (low 20 degrees Celsius), it had peaked to reach 42 degrees Celsius during midday.

The Observatory Hill in The Rocks recorded an overnight minimum temperature of 25.1 degrees Celsius – marking it as the hottest January night in the last five years. Several areas of the city experienced temperatures in the low 30s overnight.

Early hours of Wednesday morning saw scores of people flocking to Sydney's Bondi Beach. By 7AM, a massive number of people had reached the beach. As reported by the ABC, Bondi Lifeguard Andrew Reid said there are not as many people at that time of the day. “Normally it's crickets,” he said. “But there's a lot of people in the water, it makes it difficult to see them with the sun glaring in our face.”

On Thursday, Sydneysiders will get a respite from the scorching temperatures – with a maximum temperature of 25 degrees Celsius in the city and 27 degrees Celsius in the west. However, mercury levels will once again witness a rise on Friday. Conditions are expected to remain the same next week. No considerable relief is expected anytime soon, according to experts.

According to AAP (via Perth Now), the water consumption has also steeply escalated in the wake of high temperatures being recorded across the city. The second-highest demand for water in the last 14 years was recorded on Tuesday. Sydney Water’s senior media and public relations advisor Peter Hadfield said, “Yesterday's demand of 2.116 billion litres was just below the December 2016 maximum day of 2171Ml which was the highest single day demand since February 2003.”