In Pictures: Wildfires rage in Australia

As the Sydneysiders cool off, authorities warned New South Wales state faced one of the highest-risk fire days in its history.

New South Wales has a total fire ban with some regions placed under (***)catastrophic(***) fire conditions. Despite the precautions, many places were still scorched, including this in Oura, near Wagga Wagga.

Boomer Bay in Tasmania has been razed to the ground. Bushfires swept across the island state leaving around 100 people unaccounted for and several feared dead.

This photo gives an indication of just how hot the wild blaze must have been. At one point, 25 people had to run onto the jetty to escape the flames.

Dunalley in southeastern Tasmania has been cut off from both the city of Hobart and the Tasman Peninsula since the blaze ripped through on Friday.

The wild fires destroyed all in its path. This primary school has been totally gutted as the flames were fanned by hot, dry and very dangerous northwesterly winds.

In places, the fires burnt right up to the water(***)s edge. Many fires are still blazing in Tasmania, which have already destroyed more than 20,000 hectares of bushland.

After the flames have been extinguished, there(***)s an eerie beauty to what(***)s been left behind.

At least five major fires are still burning out of control across Tasmania, including blazes on the Tasman Peninsula and in the Derwent Valley. Firefighters battled winds with gusts of 70kph.

Hobart is expected to reach a maximum of around 16C on Wednesday, after a historic high of 42C last Friday. Winds could still gust up to 45kph, but even that will be some improvement.

The worst does appear to be over for now, and rain is forecast across Tasmania on Wednesday which should help to extinguish the flames.

There should also be some improvement across New South Wales on Wednesday as well. Temperatures are expected to be nearer 25C with a chance of light rain.