As hundreds of thousands of hectares of Australian bush burn in wildfires, the city Penrith records a searing high of 48.9°C—toppling an eight decade old temperature record and making it the hottest place on earth. “Many sites in western Sydney are above 45C,” warns Bureau of Meteorology (BOM) acting NSW manager Jane Golding. “We’ve seen many places close to the coast exceed 40C over the southeast and lots of places up on the ranges as well.”