SE Australia braces for 'catastrophic' fires with temperatures set to top 50C
Records likely to tumble next week when mercury hits 50 degrees
Firefighters battling scores of bushfires across southeastern Australia face more extreme heat in coming days as "catastrophic" conditions targeted homes and forced evacuations.
The heat has even prompted the weather bureau to upgrade its temperature scale with new colours on the climate map to reflect new highs forecast to hit 50 degrees Celsius next week.
More than 130 fires were burning across New South Wales state yesterday, 40 of them uncontained, state Rural Fire Service commissioner Shane Fitzsimmons said.
"You don't get conditions worse than this - we are at the catastrophic level," he said.
Introduced after the 2009 Black Saturday firestorm in Victoria state that killed 173, a "catastrophic" rating means fires will be uncontrollable, unpredictable and fast-moving, with evacuation the only safe option.
New South Wales faced one of the highest-risk fire days in its history, fanned by high winds and temperatures reaching 45 degrees in parts of the state.
While no deaths had been reported, officials remained on alert, with particular concerns about the Shoalhaven, Illawarra and Southern Ranges region south of Sydney, all popular summer holiday locations.