Sydney braces for hottest October day on record

Sydney faces what could be its hottest October day on record on Thursday, with temperatures expected to hit 42 degrees Celsius in the far west, local media reported.

The Australian Bureau of Meteorology on Thursday issued a severe weather warning for damaging winds for people across southern and central New South Wales (NSW).

"Gusty, strong to gale force west to northwesterly winds will persist ahead of this front over the Alps, before increasing over the remainder of southern and central NSW during Thursday morning and afternoon," the bureau warned.

Gusty winds of up to 100 km an hour are forecast for Sydney.

"A low pressure trough is drawing the heat down into NSW and those strong north westerly winds drawing temperatures ... much hotter weather near the coast in NSW," meteorologist Ben Domensino told Macquarie Radio Network.

Meanwhile, the NSW Rural Fire Service (RFS) has warned of potential catastrophic danger for some locations as temperatures rise.

Firefighters are standing ready throughout the state.

"There are also 26 strike teams pre-deployed into strategic locations and also around other areas of extreme risk," RFS spokesman Brendan Doyle told the Australian Associated Press (AAP).

He said fires could start easily under these conditions and have the chance of affecting people in a matter of minutes.