Two Australian states have called a state of emergency and thousands of residents have been asked to leave their homes.
Officials have confirmed that around 150 homes in the state of New South Wales (NSW) have been destroyed.
At least three people have died and thousands have had to leave their homes in New South Wales and Queensland.
The country’s most populous city, Sydney, has been marked as at “catastrophic fire danger”. Temperatures as high as 37 degrees Celsius are forecast to mix with powerful winds.
It is the first time Sydney has been rated at that level since new fire danger ratings were bought in 2009.