Autumn might only be days away but NSW's hot summer weather isn't going anywhere soon.
Sydney sweltered on Thursday and 15 people reported heat-related illnesses as the mercury rose above 40C.
The Bureau of Meteorology has predicted temperatures in the low 30s for the next week.
In Penrith the temperature reached 41.7 by mid-afternoon and hovered just below into the evening.
Closer to the city it wasn't much cooler with 39.2C recorded at Sydney Olympic Park and 36.9 at the airport.
The warm weather prompted warnings from Ambulance NSW for people to stay inside and stay hydrated but paramedics still received 15 calls from people requiring emergency treatment.
The NSW Rural Fire Service was kept busy with a number of blazes sparked across the state.
A water-bombing helicopter was brought in to tackle a fire at Cooma, while fires in the Clarence Valley, Shoalhaven and Narrabri were also quickly brought under control by crews.
NSW National Parks and Wildlife Service brought a 1440 hectare fire under control after it started at Mount Marsh in the Richmond Valley.
A cool change is expected to bring temperatures back to the high 20s from Friday, before hitting the 30s again by Wednesday.
It's a forecast residents in one of the state's hottest towns are used to dealing with.
Tibooburra, near the South Australian border, records temperatures above 40C about 20 times each summer, according to the weather bureau.
"Life goes on. You just have to deal with it," Tibooburra Family Hotel publican Melissa Thompson said.
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