(MENAFN- IANS) Melbourne, Oct 22 (IANS) Millions of Australians were warned to prepare for severe weather conditions on Wednesday as heatwaves and damaging winds swept across the country.

The Bureau of Meteorology (BoM) on Wednesday morning issued severe weather warnings for damaging winds in the east coast states of New South Wales (NSW) and Victoria, as well as South Australia (SA), and heatwave warnings for Queensland and the Northern Territory (NT) in northern Australia.

Maximum temperatures were forecast to exceed 35 degrees Celsius along NSW's densely-populated east coast on Wednesday and hit 39 degrees Celsius in the state capital of Sydney, which would break the city's October record of 38.2 degrees Celsius in 2004.

The severe heat and forecast damaging winds of up to 100 kilometres per hour prompted an extreme fire danger warning from the BoM for Greater Sydney and neighbouring regions.

NSW's Health Minister Ryan Park on Wednesday morning warned people to avoid the outdoors and to look out for older friends and family, young children and pregnant women.

"We're asking everyone today to take steps to protect themselves from the heat by staying cool and hydrated," he said.

It comes after Queensland and NSW both recorded their hottest October day on record on Tuesday, with the maximum temperature hitting 46.1 degrees Celsius in Queensland and 44.8 degrees Celsius in NSW, Xinhua news agency reported.

Victoria and SA have not been affected by the heatwave, but the BoM said that both states could experience destructive wind gusts on Wednesday as a low-pressure system that developed off Australia's southern coast moves east.

Heatwaves in Australia are caused by a combination of factors, including large landmasses, a desert climate in some parts, and high UV radiation. Recent heatwaves are exacerbated by a mass of warm air spreading from central Australia, warm ocean temperatures surrounding the continent, and specific atmospheric events like a tropical cyclone off the coast of Western Australia or a rare stratospheric warming event over Antarctica.

Furthermore, the climate crisis is increasing the frequency and severity of these events, as Australia's land surface has already warmed significantly.

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