'Extremely dangerous': how much of the heat can western Sydney bear?

Geography and development makes the city's western expanse far hotter than the east, but there's little agreement on the solution

Anyone who's lived in western Sydney in summer will tell you the days of searing heat and burning bitumen feel very different from the rest of the city.

No matter what time of year, it's generally hotter in the west. Over the past 30 years, the average yearly maximum temperature recorded at Parramatta was 23.7C, compared with 22.8C at Observatory Hill, just across from the Harbour Bridge. But those figures hide the extent of the disparity in the summer months. In January, the average daily maximum in Penrith - Sydney's western limit at the foot of the Blue Mountains - is 31.2C, compared with 27C in the city centre.