Australia Weather News

Sydneysiders sweltered through another sticky evening, with the temperature reaching a scorching 31 degrees Celsius at 6:00am this morning.

The official overnight temperature at Observatory Hill in The Rocks was the hottest January night for five years, with the official minimum 25.1C.

However, temperatures in the low 30s were recorded overnight in many areas of the city.

The Bureau of Meteorology calculates the lowest overnight temperatures over a 24-hour period until 9:00am.

Last Friday, the temperature was 26.7C at 11pm, but because it dipped to about 23C just before 9:00am Saturday, an "official record" did not occur.

A top of 37C is forecast for the coast today, while in Parramatta the mercury is expected to reach 41C.

The all-time minimum overnight record for Sydney was 26.4C in February 2011.

Beating the heat at Bondi

Thousands of people descended on Sydney's Bondi Beach in the early hours to beat the morning heat.

Bondi Lifeguard Andrew Reid said there were big crowds at the beach by 7:00am.

"It's hot, definitely hot," he said.

"We're not used to seeing that many people, normally it's crickets [this early in the morning] ... but there's a lot of people in the water, it makes it difficult to see them with the sun glaring in our face."

But Mr Reid does not expect the big crowds to hang around, with a cool change on the way.

"There's a southerly buster due about 11:00am, between 11:00am and 1:00pm, so when that hits I dare say most of them will scurry off because the temps will drop down to about 26 degrees," he said.

"Bring on the southerly lifeguards need a break."

Relief is on its way, with a top of 25C expected in the city tomorrow.

ABC