Australian wildfire danger sparks fire ban in Sydney and closes schools

A thick blanket of smoke hangs over parts of Sydney after hazard reduction burns (Mark Baker/AP)

Sydney has experienced its first total fire ban in almost three years and several schools along the New South Wales state coast to the south have been closed because of a heightened wildfire danger caused by unusually hot and dry conditions.

Authorities have forecast the most destructive wildfire season during the approaching southern hemisphere summer in Australia’s populous southeast since the catastrophic ‘black summer’ fires of 2019-20 which killed 33 people, destroyed more than 3,000 homes and razed 19 million hectares (47 million acres).