While the number of active fires has declined, this map from My Fire Watch shows how many fires are still active across mainland Australia.
The picture shows fire hotspots that are within 0-12 hours old in red, and those that are 12-24 hours old in orange.
My Fire Watch is a project run by a collaboration between Landgate and Edith Cowan University.
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Some good news at last for the bushfire victims: ANZ has extended its bushfire relief package to take in customers across the country.
The package, which allows customers hit by the fires to suspend loan repayments and avoid fees, was previously available to those in NSW and southern Queensland.
ANZ’s general managing director of retail banking, Kath Bray, said the bank had also given extra paid leave to employees who were volunteering fighting fires or performing other emergency services.
Under the relief package, customers can suspend repayments on loans, including credit cards, for up to three months.
The bank says it will also give interest rate cuts to customers who are “experiencing extreme financial distress in areas impacted by the fires”.
It will also waive fees to restructure business loans for customers hit by the fires and allow depositors to crack term deposits open early without penalty.
CBA, NAB and Westpac also have disaster relief packages for customers in NSW and Queensland bushfire areas.
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Four of Australia’s five hottest days on record were last week
Heatwave update: the extraordinary nationwide burst that gave Australia its hottest three days on record between Tuesday and Thursday continued into Friday before dipping slightly on the weekend, the Bureau of Meteorology says.
The average maximum temperature across the country on Friday was 40.3C. Before last week, that would have made it the equal hottest day recorded, alongside 7 January 2013.
But that mark had been broken on Tuesday (initially reported as 40.9C after a preliminary assessment by the bureau, now confirmed as 41.0C), then smashed on Wednesday (41.9C). Thursday fell back to 41C.
It means the country endured four of its five hottest days in a row.
The average maximum fell to 39.1C on Saturday before climbing back to 39.6C on Sunday.
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For many people with friends and family in the bushfire zones, the feeling of helplessness is overwhelming.
Gavin Fenwick, son of Colin Todd, a Balmoral local who was featured in our story on Friday about the town, said he drew this cartoon to help cope with these feelings.
Colin and his partner, Sandy Lockwood, who is a prominent Australian potter, are still waiting to establish if their Balmoral home and studio has survived the fires.
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There are fears the rare and ancient Wollemi pine has been caught up in the fires that are sweeping the Blue Mountains.
The Wollemi pines are more than 200m years old and were thought completely extinct until they were discovered by bushwalkers in 1994 in a small grove in the Blue Mountains.
The discovery makes the pines some of NSW’s most precious flora. They are listed as critically endangered by the UN and their whereabouts have been kept secret from the public to keep them safe.
But as the Gospers Mountain megafire burns through the area, Sydney’s Daily Telegraph has reported that three of four of their locations may be in danger.
The NSW Department of Environment is remaining tightlipped but said it was “doing everything we can to protect them”.
“Fire activity across the Blue Mountains and Wollemi National Park is ongoing,” a spokeswoman said. “We are doing everything we can to protect them. Their ongoing survival depends on their location remaining protected.
“The Wollemi pines have survived for over 200 million years and are not found anywhere else in the world. They are an important part of our heritage.”
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