By Julie Power, Angus Thomson and Kayla Olaya
In the shadow of the Sydney harbour bridge, Ollie Fleetham seeks some respite from the heat.
The construction worker from Belfast has spent his last two St Patrick’s Days in Sydney on a worksite. He wasn’t going to let an autumn heatwave get in the way of a street party.
Jess Johnston and partner Ollie Fleetham (background) enjoy St Patrick’s Day at the Rocks under the shadow of the Harbour Bridge in stiflingly hot conditions.Credit: Jessica Hromas
“It’s a public holiday back home,” he said. “It should be one here.”
The Rocks were awash with green on Sunday as thousands celebrated the eve of St Patrick’s Day despite temperatures soaring to 36 degrees by the harbour.
The thermometer was at 28 degrees before sunrise and climbed towards the high 30s in the early autumn heat wave. Sydney Airport reached 39 degrees at 3pm, the highest temperature recorded across the city.
In Bondi, swimmers cooled off in the water as the mercury reached 36 degrees – hotter than forecast. Bankstown topped out at 38 degrees, while the maximum in Penrith was 37 degrees.
The heat and bushfire warnings follow a series of hot days this month. “Today is the hottest day, and then it is the end,” Magda Gallos-Lorenc, senior meteorologist with the bureau, said on Sunday. “Well, that is the hope.”
Gallos-Lorenc said Sunday’s temperatures were about 10 degrees higher than the March average over the past 10 years. In March 2023, it hit 38.4 degrees at the Olympic Park weather station.
Weatherzone senior meteorologist Craig Mitchell said a distinct cooler change should coincide with the beginning of the working week, featuring “relatively mild to warm temperatures rolling through into Tuesday”.
Hot, dry and gusty winds from the west heightened the risk of bushfires, and the Bureau of Meteorology warned of extreme fire danger over greater Sydney and the southern slopes.
Outside the Mercantile Hotel in the Rocks, shade sails protected revellers from the worst of the sun but turned George St into a greenhouse as revellers packed in to enjoy an Irish band play covers of Cher and Belinda Carlisle.
“Drink water, and Guinness,” was Kim Nguyen’s advice for keeping cool on the dance floor.
The heatwave was due to linger until about midnight when a cool change is expected.
A total fire ban was declared for the Greater Sydney, Central Ranges, Southern Slopes and Southern Ranges regions.
Temperatures on March 1, the first day of autumn, hit 30.4 degrees, rising to 31.5 last Thursday and reaching 34 on Friday.
Hot, dry winds persisted across Sydney on Sunday in a weather phenomenon that has blocked the sea breeze from cooling areas on the coast.
The Rural Fire Service has advised anyone living in an area prone to bushfires to activate their bushfire survival plan and monitor weather and fire risk via www.rfs.nsw.gov.au and www.bom.gov.au and call 000 (Triple Zero) in an emergency.
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