Bureau of Meteorology meteorologist Jake Phillips said high temperatures this Christmas period are caused by a slow-moving weather system dominated by high pressure over the Tasman Sea. It means we’re likely to get warm weather for several days.

“The heat has accumulated for a few days – we’ve had this warming trend since the second half of last week,” he said. “The warming will continue for the next couple of days before it backs off a little bit later this week.”

Phillips said the drop in temperatures could bring some light showers over the new year period, but it would be a few more days before the forecast firms up.

“[The warm temperatures] are a little above average this time of year and in contrast to the cool weather we’ve had lately, it seems a lot hotter,” he said.

Looking further ahead, the warm weather is set to continue, bringing temperatures ranging between 25 and 29 in the city until January 1. In the western suburbs it’s likely be in the mid to low 30s until December 30, after which temperatures drop to about 25 degrees.

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The warmer weather comes as climate phenomena that caused wetter-than-average conditions this year begin to weaken. The La Nina event meant Sydney recorded its wettest year, with the city experiencing more than 2522 millimetres of rain, much higher than the average of 1221 millimetres. It took only 279 days before Sydney broke its previous record of 2194 millimetres, which was set in 1950.

This year, the NSW SES responded to 80,032 requests for assistance and conducted 3812 flood rescues. The areas that required the most assistance were Forbes, south Lismore and Wee Waa. NSW SES Commissioner Carlene York said this year had been the busiest on record for the agency.

The Bureau of Meteorology notes that Australia’s climate has warmed by an average of 1.47 degrees since national records began in 1910. There’s also been a decline in rainfall in the south-east of the country of about 10 per cent between April and October since the late 1990s.