Severe fire danger and tropical storms forecast for Queensland, South Australia, Victoria and Tasmania

Australians are gearing up for a few days of wild weather, with widespread rain, showers and thunderstorms expected to hit northern Queensland, and an extreme fire danger for the country’s south east. The Bureau of Meteorology warned on Tuesday that high to extreme fire danger was forecast across southeastern Australia for Wednesday due to warm to hot and windy conditions. In South Australia, there are high fire dangers across much of the state’s south. The west coast, The Yorke Peninsula and the Mount Lofty Ranges are forecast to experience extreme fire dangers on Wednesday. In Victoria, the extreme fire danger is mostly through central parts, particularly the Central District, including Melbourne. In Tasmania, a high fire danger is in place across the state, except for in the North West. Meanwhile, the bureau on Tuesday also warned that wild and wet weather was expected to hit Queensland’s tropical north this week, driven by active wet season troughs and low-pressure systems. “Weekly rainfall totals of 50mm to 200mm, and locally higher, were recorded across much of northern Queensland, the Top End of the Northern Territory and parts of the Kimberley,” the bureau said. “Weekly rainfall totals of 50mm to 200mm, and locally higher, were recorded across much of northern Queensland, the Top End of the Northern Territory and parts of the Kimberley.” Flooding continues in Queensland, with minor to major flooding in central and western parts, and The Gulf Country. For the Lower Daly and Katherine River Gorge catchments in the Northern Territory Top End, minor to major flood warnings are currently in place. “Low-intensity to locally extreme heatwave conditions impacted western regions of Western Australia and southern parts of the Northern Territory and Queensland,” the bureau said.