Soaring temps, sunshine return to Sydney after fog causes flight delays, ferry cancellations

Blistering heat is back for the week, after a thick blanket of fog caused transport delays across Sydney on Boxing Day morning. Here’s what the weather has in store.

Sunshine has broken through the fog to gift Sydney with a hot summer it deserves while forecasts look dim for the New Year.

Temperatures are soaring as high as 35 degrees in the western suburbs around Penrith, Richmond and Liverpool while Bondi is reporting a mild 25 degrees.

The blistering heat will continue for most of the week before a cool change on the coast on Thursday bringing temps into the low 20s with a slight chance of rain.

The possibility of rain will increase slightly into the weekend with north to north-easterly winds between 15 and 30 km/h, meanwhile relief will be felt out west with an eight to nine degree dip midweek and a high chance of showers.

For partygoers, this means rain could dampen New Year celebrations at the end of the month. However, temperatures are forecast to remain in the high 20s until January 1.

A busy Maroubra Beach on a warm and sunny Boxing Day.

It was a very different story for Sydney on Boxing Day as heavy fog descended on the city causing flight delays and ferry cancellations.

The Sydney Harbour Bridge slowly disappeared on Monday morning …

… and was completely shrouded in fog midmorning. Pictures: Julian Andrews

Sydney Airport reported a very low visibility reading of 200m early on Monday morning causing flight delays and frustration at the terminals.

It slowly improved to 500m visibility within the hour of 7am to 8am. Meanwhile, low clouds and foggy conditions plagued western suburbs around Bankstown.

Ferries were also briefly halted, with services resuming by 8am.

Light north-easterly winds pushed the fog southwest and drifted away from Sydney by 9am to unveil sunny, blue skies once again.

“Very light north-easterly winds will see it drift over the next hour or so in southwest areas where it may not have formed overnight,” BoM meteorologist Steven Hadley said.

“It’s not going to drift very far.”

Meanwhile, nerves were high at the docks in Sydney Harbour as crew members tackled the thick cloud ahead of the highly anticipated annual Sydney Hobart Yacht Race.

A thick blanket of fog descended on Rushcutters Bay before the annual Sydney to Hobart race. Picture: Mark Evans/Getty Images

Yacht crews battled the misty conditions. Picture: Mark Evans/Getty Images

Experts said it was unclear how far the fog would stretch down south as the “summer sun gets to work” to welcome back warm and pleasant conditions similar to those felt on Christmas Day.

On the south coast, a “big thick deck of low cloud” hung over Jervis Bay with “fog patches” spotted across the region, making it difficult to forecast when the fog would cease on Monday.

Despite the annual yacht race kicking off at midday, Mr Hadley said any remaining fog that drifted over the sea could take longer to dissipate, causing potential headaches for sailors later in the day.

It is unlikely to deter crews travelling south with mostly sunny forecasts and high temperatures reaching 30 degrees on Tuesday for Hobart.