At least nine people have died since Christmas Day, and the RFS is urging people to evacuate the New South Wales south coast before dangerous conditions on the weekend. Follow the live news and latest updates today
4.47am GMT
The state of alert for the ACT is because of the severe weather conditions which are going to hit the wider Canberra area.
We’ve decided to take this action, a state of alert, in the ACT as a formal precaution to ensure that we can alert Canberrans about the risk that’s occurring for the ACT into this near future. We see Saturday as a severe fire rating day.
Winds will change.
4.45am GMT
Evacuation plans for #Mallacoota are underway, as #YourADF works with emergency services to prepare transferring people to HMAS Choules tomorrow AM.
Commanding Officer of Choules, CMDR Houlihan, led the ADF team onshore today to provide timely and relevant support. pic.twitter.com/ecphjfLg9f
