Sydney bakes in hottest day in three years

Australia’s authorities warned people to stay safe Saturday as a heatwave baked the eastern coast and sent temperatures in Sydney to a three-year high.

Many people crowded Sydney’s beaches and sought relief in the shade as authorities warned the most vulnerable including the elderly and very young to shelter in cool buildings.

More than 70 bush fire and grass fires were burning across New South Wales and 29 of them still out of control, the state’s rural fire service said in a statement.