SYDNEY – Large swathes of Australia on Dec 24 sweated through heatwave conditions as the authorities warned of a high bush fire risk in many parts of Western Australia state.

The nation’s weather forecaster on Dec 24 issued heatwave alerts for the state and neighbouring Northern Territory, warning that temperatures in some regions could hit around 45 deg C.

In Perth, the capital of Western Australia, the nation’s largest state, a maximum temperature of 35 deg C was forecast for Dec 24, more than 5 deg C above the December mean, forecaster data showed.

Australia’s east is scorching due to El Nino, a climate pattern in which unusually warm Pacific Ocean temperatures cause heatwaves, cyclones, droughts and wildfires.

In Western Australia, more than 20 bush fires were raging on Dec 24, the state’s emergency services agency said, including an uncontrolled one near Pemberton, a town of around 5,000 residents, about 320km south of Perth.

A Department of Fire and Emergency Services spokesperson said in a statement the agency was expecting “more difficult fire weather” from the afternoon of Dec 24 as hot, dry and windy conditions hit a large section of the state, including Perth.

The agency warned of a high fire danger for many areas of Western Australia and said more than 1,000 firefighters had been fighting blazes statewide over the past five days.

“Weather conditions over the next few days will put pressure on containment lines and potentially increase fire activity,” the spokesperson said.

Much of Australia’s east coast was in line for torrential rain, with the weather forecaster issuing flood alerts and a severe thunderstorm warning late on Dec 24 for parts of New South Wales, the country’s most populous state with Sydney as its capital.

The authorities warned of a high fire danger for many parts of Western Australia, a mining state covering the western third of the Australian continent. REUTERS