Bushfires are threatening dozens of communities in Victoria, a southerly cool change is fanning problems in NSW, and more than a third of Kangaroo Island has burned in South Australia.
Firefighters who continued to battle fires overnight were sure more homes had been lost, but would not be able to accurately report the extent of the damage until daylight.
Since September, fires in Australia have killed at least 23 people.
More than 1300 homes have been destroyed and millions of hectares of land scorched. Although much attention has centred on worst-hit NSW, every state and territory has been affected.
Earlier on Saturday, Prime Minister Scott Morrison announced 3000 Australian Defence Force reservists would be deployed to fire recovery across the nation to aid the ongoing crisis.
NSW has declared a week-long state of emergency. Tens of thousands of residents and holidaymakers have been told to evacuate coastal areas, where a "tourist leave zone" has been declared.
As darkness fell, several Alpine communities and towns along the Victoria-NSW border were fighting to defend from bushfires.
The blaze that devastated Corryong was pushed back towards the town, and was also impacting Walwa, Tintaldra and Towong, where officials feared properties had been lost.
It came after a day of searing temperatures in the region.
All-time heat records were broken at Albury Airport (41.6 degrees Celsius), and at Rutherglen (45.6 degrees Celsius).
Hume incident controller Paul King said those temperatures combined with south-westerly winds that "came through like a steam train" to put significant pressure on border towns.
Further south, fires were threatening Alpine communities Harrietville, Wandiligong, Bright, Mount Hotham, Falls Creek and Dinner Plain.
Authorities had been warning communities across Victoria's declared disaster zone to evacuate the area before today, amid fears the extreme weather would make bushfires unstoppable.
Army helicopters were earlier used to help dozens of people escape the fierce fire threat in the state.
Victorian authorities believe properties were lost as the fire began to move towards the border to merge with a large bushfire burning in NSW.
Officials said fire crews were battling to save Corryong's town centre, but homes on the outskirts were believed to have been lost.
On Saturday night, King said firefighters were in a better situation as temperatures began to drop, but "nowhere near any sort of containment level".
"A lot of those fires will join up and given we're two months from the fire season starting to abate, let alone finishing, we've got a long way to go," he told ABC.
Mr King said in many ways he felt it had been a "successful day", as despite the unprecedented bushfire emergency in the region, no lives were believed to have been lost.
BOM forecaster Dean Stewart said there would be a "sprinkling" of rain across Sunday and Monday for eastern Victoria, but it could only amount to 5mm in the northeast.
As much as 20mm of rain could fall in East Gippsland across the next two days, where it would come as a welcome relief to communities who have spent days fighting fires.
A number of warnings for coastal parts of East Gippsland, including Mallacoota, were downgraded to watch and act level as the cool change swept through, with temperatures dropping into the 20s.
Firefighters who continued to battle fires overnight were sure more homes had been lost, but would not be able to accurately report the extent of the damage until daylight.
Since September, fires in Australia have killed at least 23 people.
More than 1300 homes have been destroyed and millions of hectares of land scorched. Although much attention has centred on worst-hit NSW, every state and territory has been affected.
Earlier on Saturday, Prime Minister Scott Morrison announced 3000 Australian Defence Force reservists would be deployed to fire recovery across the nation to aid the ongoing crisis.
NSW has declared a week-long state of emergency. Tens of thousands of residents and holidaymakers have been told to evacuate coastal areas, where a "tourist leave zone" has been declared.
As darkness fell, several Alpine communities and towns along the Victoria-NSW border were fighting to defend from bushfires.
The blaze that devastated Corryong was pushed back towards the town, and was also impacting Walwa, Tintaldra and Towong, where officials feared properties had been lost.
It came after a day of searing temperatures in the region.
All-time heat records were broken at Albury Airport (41.6 degrees Celsius), and at Rutherglen (45.6 degrees Celsius).
Hume incident controller Paul King said those temperatures combined with south-westerly winds that "came through like a steam train" to put significant pressure on border towns.
Further south, fires were threatening Alpine communities Harrietville, Wandiligong, Bright, Mount Hotham, Falls Creek and Dinner Plain.
Authorities had been warning communities across Victoria's declared disaster zone to evacuate the area before today, amid fears the extreme weather would make bushfires unstoppable.
Army helicopters were earlier used to help dozens of people escape the fierce fire threat in the state.
Victorian authorities believe properties were lost as the fire began to move towards the border to merge with a large bushfire burning in NSW.
Officials said fire crews were battling to save Corryong's town centre, but homes on the outskirts were believed to have been lost.
On Saturday night, King said firefighters were in a better situation as temperatures began to drop, but "nowhere near any sort of containment level".
"A lot of those fires will join up and given we're two months from the fire season starting to abate, let alone finishing, we've got a long way to go," he told ABC.
Mr King said in many ways he felt it had been a "successful day", as despite the unprecedented bushfire emergency in the region, no lives were believed to have been lost.
BOM forecaster Dean Stewart said there would be a "sprinkling" of rain across Sunday and Monday for eastern Victoria, but it could only amount to 5mm in the northeast.
As much as 20mm of rain could fall in East Gippsland across the next two days, where it would come as a welcome relief to communities who have spent days fighting fires.
A number of warnings for coastal parts of East Gippsland, including Mallacoota, were downgraded to watch and act level as the cool change swept through, with temperatures dropping into the 20s.