A total fire ban has been declared for Sydney and many other regions after statewide temperature records tumbled in NSW and Queensland .

Both states broke their October temperature record by close to a degree yesterday as temperatures soared well beyond 40 degrees Celsius.

Birdsville in the deep Queensland outback near the border with South Australia hit 46.1 degrees, an entire degree more than the previous record set in 1995.

It's also the eighth hottest October temperature ever recorded in Australia, and the only figure in the top 10 from outside of Western Australia.

In NSW, Bourke hit 44.8 degrees, almost a full degree more than the 1919 mark of 43.9 set in the same place.

Weatherzone said there were several local monthly heat records across the eastern sta

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