Thousands of residents and holiday makers have been told to evacuate a swathe of Victoria as soaring temperatures and strong winds fan massive bushfires in the Australian state.
A petition to cancel Sydney's famous New Year's Eve fireworks and use the money to fight bush fires ringing the city has topped 260,000 signatures, but officials say the show will go on.
Australian authorities said on Friday that they are focused on protecting water plants, pumping stations, pipes and other infrastructure from intense bushfires surrounding Sydney, the country's largest city. Firefighters battling the blazes for weeks received a reprieve of slightly cooler, damper conditions over Christmas, but the respite is not expected to last long.
Australian popstar Kylie Minogue has invited weary Britons to forget politics and “call on your friends in Australia” in a tourism campaign launched in Britain on Christmas Day.
A kangaroo has been spotted cooling off in a backyard pool in a bush fire-ravaged region of Australia while elsewhere firefighters have been rescuing koalas from trees threatened by flames.
Firefighters in the Australian state of New South Wales were bracing for catastrophic fire conditions on Saturday as temperatures well above 40 degrees Celsius and strong winds were set to fuel more than 100 fires burning across the state.
While Prime Minister Scott Morrison is overseas on vacation, Australia this week experienced its hottest day on record and the heat-wave is expected to worsen, exacerbating an already unprecedented bushfire season, authorities said on Wednesday.
Australian authorities declared a seven-day state of emergency in New South Wales state on Thursday as a record heatwave fanned unprecedented bushfires raging across the region.
Australia's biggest city is facing a public health emergency over the bushfire smoke that has choked Sydney for weeks, leading doctors warned on Monday after hospitals reported a dramatic spike in casualty department visits.
Thousands of firefighters were fortifying containment lines on Monday as temperatures were forecast to soar, increasing the danger of a fresh wave of bushfires across Australia's east coast. More than 100 fires remain ablaze in the region, and authorities warned conditions would worsen on Tuesday, when temperatures were predicted to top 40 degrees Celsius.