Sydney has fallen just short of recording its hottest October temperature as much of the country sweltered and damaging winds whipped through southern states.

Parts of western Victoria were hit by wind gusts of 120km/h , with the Geelong Cup horse race postponed because of the extreme conditions.

Despite parts of the NSW capital flirting with 40C the official temperature at Observatory Hill maxed out at 37C , short of the 38.2C mark set in 2004.

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