LAST night and into early this morning, Sydneysiders sweated through the warmest January night on record.

The minimum temperature reached its highest at 26.4C in the city and 28.6C in Penrith.

Penrith, Richmond, Horsley Park, Bankstown and Camden recorded the warmest night full stop since records began.

media_camera It was a hot night for many Sydneysiders, especially those who do not have airconditioning. Picture: Jenny Evans

From midnight onwards, temperatures climbed from 27.1C and reached 30C at 2am on Saturday morning.

Rebecca Kamitakahara, Bureau of Meteorology (BoM) forecaster said minimum temperatures are such an important part of heatwaves and that’s why last night was so uncomfortable.

“We have a really warm air mass so there’s a limit to how much it can cool off. Last night was particularly hot as well because of lots of cloud cover.”

FORECAST FOR THE WEEK AHEAD

DESPITE high humidity in store for the next couple of days, there should be a slight reprieve in temperature with a chance of showers later tonight.

“We are expecting a southerly change along the coast today which will keep things a little more reasonable for the city. It should reach Western Sydney tonight,” Ms Kamitakahara said.

But another low intensity heatwave is predicted for NSW as a cold front low pressure trough brings hot air across the east.

media_camera This pair made the most of the empty Bondi Beach before it gets busy again. Picture: Jenny Evans

Tomorrow will be a much milder day but from Monday onwards temperatures will increase again.

“It looks like they’re going to be peaking towards Tuesday and Wednesday. The city will reach 34 on Tuesday and 40C in Penrith,” said Rebecca Kamitakahara.

“At this stage it looks things will cool off on Thursday for Sydney at least although temperatures will still be warmer than average.”

Friday, into early Saturday morning temperatures from BoM

Time (AEDT) Temp (°C)

7pm 27.6

8pm 27

9pm 27

10pm 27.4

11pm 26.7

Midnight 27.4

1am 27.9

2am 30

3am 29.3

4am 29.3

5am 28.1

6am 27.5

7am 28.4