Australia Weather News

Residents in Victoria's far west are being told to evacuate immediately as an out-of-control fire burns in the Little Desert.

The communities of Dimboola, Pimpinio and Wail near the Victoria-South Australia border have been told to evacuate, as fire spreads rapidly eastwards.

The fire is expected to impact Dimboola about 7:30pm, with residents warned it may be too late to leave after this time.

Dry lightning has started several fires in the Little Desert National Park in western Victoria where the fire danger rating is extreme.

The blazes are burning in a southerly direction towards private land.

Visitors and campers have been urged to immediately leave the park.

The State Control Centre's Luke Heagerty said temperatures in the west had passed 40 degrees Celsius and conditions could worsen throughout the afternoon.

"We knew that there was potential for this dry lightning to come through which was going to be ahead of any of the wind change," Mr Heagerty told ABC Radio.

"We have seen some very isolated storm cells move through, but thankfully not en masse, so the first real indication that we're potentially getting some fire activity is up in the Wimmera."

Mr Heagerty said the fire had grown rapidly and authorities were concerned about approaching wind change.

"There's a number of communities there where we're just saying be aware that that fire is burning at the moment.

"We're hoping we'll keep it inside the national park boundary but you are going to see smoke and you'll potentially see some little outbreaks of fire once they reach the edge of the national park where they might start to spread into private land."

He said the sandy ground made it difficult to get fire trucks in close to the fire, and there was a risk the vehicles could get bogged.

"We take a different approach with the way that we fight this fire so we'll be using a lot of aircraft.

"It's just a little bit different, this firefight."

Staff at the Little Desert Nature Lodge, near the northern edge of the national park, were preparing to evacuate to Nhill if needed.

Worker Sean Clarke said a large group of guests had luckily left earlier in the day so staff were focusing on cleaning up.

He said it was very smoky in the area, even with the wind pushing the fire in the opposite direction to the lodge.

Another grassfire has flared near Rokewood, north-west of Geelong.

People in the areas around Barunah Park, Corindhap, Rokewood, Shelford and Warrambine were being asked to leave as out-of-control fire burned in a south-easterly direction from Paynes Bridge Road towards Shelford.

Power out as heat soars

South-east of Melbourne, a band of lightning near Phillip Island has caused power outages to around 5,000 homes and businesses in the Bass Coast area popular with tourists.

A spokesperson for electricity provider Ausnet said a fallen tree had also blacked out hundreds of homes in Croydon, Ringwood East and Cranbourne, in Melbourne's south-east.

She said extra ground crews and a helicopter team had been brought in to patrol the affected areas to ensure the downed lines did not spark any fires.

Bureau of Metereology senior forecaster Lincoln Trainor said a front would enter the western parts of Victoria in the early afternoon.

"That is going to cause strong and gusty north-westerly winds, driving up the heat," he said.

"It will cross central districts in the late afternoon and then clear eastern districts overnight on Monday."

Mr Trainor said it was going to be a very hot day.

"We are going to be 12 to 14 degrees above the January average," he said.

But the forecaster said a gusty cool change was expected to reach Melbourne around 5:30pm.

"That could drop the temperature 10 to 15 degrees within 15 to 20 minutes," he said.

'Have a plan in place'

Total fire bans in place for five districts including the Mallee, Wimmera, Central, North Central, and South West.

The Country Fire Authority (CFA) has advised travellers in those areas to get back on the roads early to get home.

All five districts also have an extreme fire danger rating.

CFA deputy chief officer Brett Boatman said it was important that people remained connected to information from emergency services throughout the day.

"Whether that is through the [VicEmergency] app or website, local radio … having more than one source in which you get the information is critical," he said.

"Do not wait for the CFA or for the fire agencies to give you a warning and suggest you act and do something.

"Have a plan in place for what you are going to do given it is a significant fire danger forecast."

Mr Boatman said after today, the next potential lift in fire weather conditions would be either Sunday this week or Monday next week.

"It looks like we are heading into a period of significant heat into the early part of February," he said.

"There is still a lot of summer to go.

"We are just entering into February, which is our busiest month in Victoria for fire danger."

Mr Boatman said a fire that had been burning since December 17 in the Grampians National Park in the state's west was under control.

"[The Grampians fire] is under control and being patrolled and seems settled at the moment, and we're unlikely to see any big runs of fire out of that," he said.

Extreme heat timetables will also be in place for all lines on the V/Line network today.

Passengers are being reminded to allow extra travel time and plan ahead, and to check the V/Line website before travelling for any changes to timetables.