New wildfires broke out early today around Canberra, southern New South Wales and Tasmania as temperatures soared towards expected highs of 45°C.
Australia’s largest city, Sydney, recorded 40°C by early afternoon, despite its coastal position.
This follows a week of heat wave conditions with bushfires across five of Australia’s six states, with more than 100 fires in the most populous state of New South Wales and in mountain forests around the national capital Canberra. More than 20 raged out of control, Reuters reported.
Prime minister Julia Gillard warned: “This is a very dangerous day. We of course are very concerned about these extreme weather conditions in New South Wales.
“The word catastrophic is being used for very good reason, so it is very important that people keep themselves safe.”
Around 100 houses, the majority on the island state of Tasmania, are reported to have been destroyed by fire, but there have been no reports of deaths, although many people are still missing in fire affected areas of the island state.