Strong winds that have changed direction are hampering efforts by firefighters to contain bushfires in Australia's south-east.
BBC News reports a southerly change with powerful gusts up to 128km/h threatened to spread huge fires raging in New South Wales.
In the neighbouring state of Victoria, army helicopters have been deployed to evacuate people trapped by the flames.
Since September, fires in Australia have killed at least 23 people.
More than 1,200 homes have been destroyed and millions of hectares of land scorched.
Although much attention has centred on worst-hit NSW, every state and territory has been affected.
Three fires have combined to form a single blaze bigger than Manhattan, as Australian firefighters battle what has been predicted to be the most catastrophic day yet in an already devastating bushfire season. https://t.co/VWovRgeYmm pic.twitter.com/Ps5bju2pWK
— CNN (@CNN) January 4, 2020
[Source: BBC]
