The burst of late-season heat that seared south-eastern Australia over the weekend will give way to days of heavy showers for Sydney with bigger falls forecast for coastal regions to the north.

The falls, though, will likely be minimal over bushfire-hit parts of the NSW South Coast where a forest fire danger index reached a record high for March, according to the Bureau of Meteorology.

There is a good chance of some decent rainfall in Sydney this week - and potentially heavier falls up the coast. Credit:Christopher Pearce

Sydney on Monday fell shy of hitting three consecutive March days of 30 degrees – which would have been the first such trio in the month since 1902 – with a top of 28.4 degrees.

A wind shift from the north-west that had brought warm air from central Australia to an easterly flow put a cap of temperatures.