The CFA has issued an emergency warning for Fairy Dell, Nanneella and Strathallan. A grass fire south west of Strathallan and north of Rochester is burning out of control.

It has crossed Burgoine Road, Rochester-Strathallan Road, and the railway line travelling in a north-easterly direction.

The severe thunderstorm warning for Melbourne has been cancelled, but is still in effect for parts of eastern Victoria.

My colleagues Nick Evershed and Andy Ball have put together animations that show the extent of the fires in New South Wales and Queensland over the past few weeks using satellite data from Nasa’s hotspot detection program.

Bushfires have destroyed 612 homes so far this season in New South Wales, via AAP:

The RFS has confirmed the number of homes lost this NSW bushfire season has risen to 612 as firefighters continue to battle some 50 blazes across the state.

The number of NSW homes lost to bushfires this season has passed 600 as crews continue to battle 50 blazes across the state which have again blanketed Sydney in smoke.

An emergency warning for an out-of-control bushfire was issued on Thursday afternoon for a blaze burning between Bora Ridge and Whiporie on the state’s north coast.

It has so far burned 34,000 hectares and is spreading towards Whiporie, Camira, Tullymorgan and Jacky Bulbin Flat, the NSW Rural Fire Service says.

Six people have also died, and 1,300 outbuildings have been damaged or destroyed in the past fortnight.

Sydney is also dealing with a lot of smoke right now, and people are being urged to stay indoors if they have chronic respiratory or heart conditions. The smoke is predicted to clear by Friday morning when a southerly change hits.

There are still 50 fires burning, 20 of which are uncontained, but conditions are expected to improve over the next few days.

Here’s the latest from Victorian emergency management commissioner, Andrew Crisp:

• 130km/h winds in the Grampians this morning, followed by 90km/h winds at Tullamarine.
• The cool change is working its way through Melbourne now, after temperatures peaked at around 41C.
  
• Four emergency warnings have been issued for fires, six watch and act warnings, and 10 advice.
• There are more than 2,000 firefighters out across the state, 300 trucks, and 33 helicopters and planes.
• There will be an emergency warning for a fire in Hunter near Elmore.
• A fire at watch and act level north of Avoca was started by a lightning strike to a tree.
• The fire causing significant concern at the moment is at Strathallan in the Goulburn Valley.
  
• Dry lightning strikes could cause more fires as the storm works its way through Victoria up to 11pm tonight.
• Thunderstorm asthma is also a big risk this afternoon, but there have been no cases presented to hospital yet.

“A message is for people to still be vigilant in relation to the fire risk,” Crisp said. “It’s not just a fire risk we have been dealing with today, but also thunderstorm asthma.”

Good afternoon, Josh Taylor here to bring you all the latest on the bushfire situation.

Here’s where we are as of 3.30pm AEDT:

• Code Red – the highest warning level – issued in Victoria as fires are raging in the central Victorian towns of Clunes, Bonn and Strathallan.
  
• Temperatures in Victoria have reached the early 40s, amid a thunderstorm warning for Melbourne and a cool change this afternoon.
• In South Australia, there are catastrophic bushfire conditions for the second day in a row, with one fire burning out of control on the Yorke Peninsula.
• 33 people were injured in South Australia yesterday, while 11 properties were damaged in fires.
• In New South Wales, 55 fires are still burning, with 31 uncontained, and 12 fire bans in place across the state.
• A total of 67 fires are burning out of control in Queensland.
• In Western Australia, there is a catastrophic fire warning for southern interior parts of the state, while in Tasmania parts of the east coast have an extreme bushfire rating.