Queensland firies have issued several urgent warnings for people living in parts of the Western Downs and Gladstone regions to leave immediately, telling them it could soon be “too dangerous to drive”.
Three “Leave Immediately” warnings were issued overnight amid fires raging across parts of the state.
As of 2.01am, residents living in homes between Lowmead Road and Fingerboard Road have been urged to leave immediately due to a fast-moving fire.
The Queensland Fire and Emergency Service (QFES) have warned lives could be at risk.
Further south of the state, two emergency warnings have been issued for areas across Tara, The Gums and Wieambilla.
At 12.50am, people living between Blackburns Road, Wieambilla Road, Chinchilla Tara Road and Upper Humbug Road, plus residents between Suttons Road, Ellerslie Land Road, Blackburns Road and McCaskers Road, including Werona Road, were told to evacuate due to a fire burning near Ravens Road.
Watch and Act notices have also been issued for the areas surrounding the zones. While firefighters are working hard to contain the fires, emergency services have warned that conditions could worsen with little notice.
“You should not expect a firefighter at your door. Firefighting aircraft are helping ground crews,” the QFES have said.
North westerly and westerly winds will drag the heat into the south of country, with temperatures in NSW and the Sydney basin climbing to 35C from Monday.
From Tuesday, similar condition will hit Queensland, elevating the fire danger again.
“Many other areas (in NSW are) still pretty dry, and so any fires moving through will move rapidly across the landscape,” said Sky New meteorologist Rob Sharpe.
He said it would be cooler by Wednesday for the southeast as the heat returns to the north and western parts of the country.
While 49 bushfires are still currently active in NSW, Mr Sharpe said the risk on the Mid North Coast will not be “as much of a concern” due to the wet ground from consecutive days of substantial rain.
Ground crews and aircraft from the NSW RFS will continue to monitor the blazes over the weekend, with residents urged to monitor advice for details around changing conditions.