NSW & ACT
A BUSHFIRE has closed roads near Forster on the state's mid-north coast, as NSW faces a week of soaring temperatures and dry, windy weather.
The Lakes Way is currently closed in both directions between Sweet Pea Road and Green Point Drive, just south of Forster.
NSW Rural Fire Service (RFS) crews are on the scene and have advised residents to stay in the area. No homes are currently under threat, according to the RFS.
Six aircraft are assisting firefighters to control the blaze.
The Transport Management Centre has advised motorists to use the Pacific Highway as an alternative route, while those travelling to Forster should use Failford Road via Tuncurry.
Emergency services are at the scene trying to put the fire out.
Penrith is now Sydney's hottest suburb, with a temperature of 35.2C at 4.05pm. Bankstown fell to 27.6C at 4.04pm, Camden was 31.8C and Campbelltown 31.1C, just after 4pm.
NSW Rural Fire Service Deputy Commissioner Rob Rogers said there were 43 fires burning around the state and nine of those were not contained.
"We have got incidents happening all the time," Deputy Commissioner Rogers said.
These fires are located in areas ranging from Orange to Gloucester, Shoalhaven, Gundagai and Cobar.
A Skycrane has also been stationed in Wagga in preparation for the warm weather. The other Skycrane remains in Sydney.
"We are making sure we have got the resources where they are needed most,'' Deputy Commissioner Rogers said.
"We have also provided some aircraft assistance to South Australia and Victoria to help them."
A "superheated" air mass flowing from the deserts of central Australia will push temperatures well above 40C across huge areas of Queensland, South Australia, Victoria, New South Wales and the Northern Territory into next week.
A seven-day heatwave is set to hit parts of NSW today, with temperatures expected to soar as high as 44C in the state's west - prompting warnings from the fire services and health authorities.
Firefighters are warning NSW residents to prepare for more bushfires this weekend with windy and dry conditions tipped for much of the state, along with the hottest temperatures in four years.
Deputy Commissioner Rogers says firefighters are expecting tough conditions over the next few days as the heatwave intensifies across inland parts of the state.
"We're coming from a 10-year drought where there was no fuel particularly west of the ranges to a record year where it has dried off," Mr Rogers told AAP.
"The next week of really hot weather is going to make it drier and drier to the point that it'll take a single spark and we'll have fires to deal with."
Mr Rogers says winds are also predicted to strengthen, making the likelihood of fires even greater.
"So it's fair to say we're bracing for difficult conditions over the next few days," he said.
Temperatures are forecast to stay above 40C in the state's west until Tuesday next week, the Bureau of Meteorology advises.
However, sea breezes are tipped to keep temperatures cooler in Sydney and NSW coastal regions.
Bureau of Meteorology forecaster Chris Webb says areas west of Dubbo are likely to experience temperatures not recorded in the state for several years.
"It will be the hottest run since 2009," Mr Webb said.
"The extreme temperatures are going to be on the plain west of the ranges.
"It's not expected to be record-breaking but it's extremely unpleasant."
He said coastal parts of the state would be "saved from the worst of it".
A total fire ban is in place for NSW's southern Riverina on Friday.
It covers the Berrigan, Conargo, Corowa, Deniliquin, Jerilderie, Murray, Urana and Wakool council areas.
And while the highest temperature in the Sydney CBD over the next seven days will only reach a maximum of 30C, the mercury is expected to reach 39C in Penrith on Tuesday.
Other parts of western Sydney, such as Campbelltown and Liverpool, are tipped to hit 37C, while Broken Hill and Tibooburra are expecting 44C.
The heatwave is set to last until at least next Thursday.
Bureau of Meteorology duty forecaster Andrew Haigh said a large mass of hot air sitting over central Australia would push temperatures up in regional areas of the state for an extended period of time.
"We're expecting winds to be fairly light and this means a quite large and deep air mass will be sitting in the same place for a number of days," Mr Haigh said.
"The sun will heat up the land and there is nowhere for it to go. These conditions do occur from time to time where we get runs of extreme hot weather."
The highest maximum temperature ever recorded in NSW was 49.7C at Menindee, in the state's west, on January 10, 1939.