Too late to leave, worst yet to come: Bushfires wreck southeast Australia

Hundreds of fires across Victoria, NSW and other parts, fuelled by soaring temperatures and strong winds, have firefighters battling to save lives and property

Bushfires burned dangerously out of control on Australia's east coast on Saturday, fuelled by soaring temperatures and strong winds that had firefighters battling to save lives and property, and authorities said the worst of conditions was yet to come.

By late afternoon, Victoria had 17 fires rated at emergency or evacuate warning levels and New South Wales had 12 rated emergency, with more than 100 others burning across the states.

"We are in for a long night and we are still to hit the worst of it," NSW Premier Gladys Berejiklian said at an afternoon briefing. "It's a very volatile situation." Authorities