Southeast Australia hit by extreme heat, bushfire risks

Southeast Australia has been hit by increasing risks for extreme heat and bushfires amid hot and dry Christmas weather, with high fire dangers in places throughout much of Australia, reported Xinhua.

Residents of at least three states are facing total fire bans and warnings of power outages.

South Australian capital Adelaide is estimated to record the highest Christmas temperature since 2016, as the state of Victoria has been fighting raging fires in the Grampians.

"[Conditions] are ripe for fires to become uncontrollable and uncontainable, particularly with fires already ongoing around the Grampians and central parts of Victoria," the Guardian Australia quoted senior meteorologist Dean Narramore as saying on Wednesday, warning of extreme fire dangers due to hot, dry and windy conditions through parts of South Australia and Victoria.

Narramore said the fire risk would be the worst after the 2019 bushfire, and that South Australia is in one of the driest periods on record.