INSUBCONTINENT EXCLUSIVE:
Bushfires raging across Australia are generating so much heat they are creating their own storms, with authorities warning wind conditions
are causing some of the biggest fires to merge.Fire tornadoes and dry lightning have sparked even more blazes, as temperatures soared to new
highs today - 48.9C (120F) in Penrith, 45C (113F) in Sydney and 44C (111F) in Canberra.Penrith, a suburb of Sydney, was the hottest place on
Earth on Saturday, the Met Office confirmed to Sky News
It was the hottest day ever recorded in greater Sydney.The New South Wales Rural Fire Service has updated emergency warnings, telling those
who have not evacuated at-risk areas: "It is too late to leave
Seek shelter as the fire approaches."Prime Minister Scott Morrison said: "In recent times, particularly over the course of the balance of
this week, we have seen this disaster escalate to an entirely new level."Victoria had 14 fires rated at emergency or evacuate warning levels
on Saturday evening, while New South Wales had 11 rated emergency and more than 150 others burning across both states.NSW Rural Fire Service
Commissioner Shane Fitzsimmons said: "There are a number of fires that are coming together - very strong, very large, intense fires that are
creating some of these fire-generated thunderstorms."And unfortunately we've still got many hours to go of these elevated and dangerous
conditions."Posting on Instagram, the Duke and Duchess of Sussex sent their thoughts to those affected by the fires.Prince Harry and Meghan
wrote: "Our thoughts and prayers are with those across Australia who are continuing to face the devastating fires that have been raging for
months."From areas we are personally connected to such as the communities and people we visited in New South Wales in 2018, to the fires in
California and parts of Africa, we are struck by the increasingly overlapping presence of these environmental disasters, including of course
the destruction of the Amazon which continues."This global environmental crisis has now been described as Ecocide
It's easy to feel helpless, but there's always a way to help."They also directed their followers to sites they have used to help the relief
effort.The Queen also sent a message, saying she was "deeply saddened" to hear of the continued fires.She added: "My thanks go out to the
emergency services, and those who put their own lives in danger to help communities in need."Prince Philip and I send our thoughts and
prayers to all Australians at this difficult time."William and Kate also sent their condolences and said: "We continue to be shocked and
deeply saddened to hear about the wild fires that are destroying homes, livelihoods and wildlife across much of Australia."Winds of up to
80mph are fanning the strength and unpredictability of the fires, with many places facing their worst day yet."We are in for a long night
and we are still to hit the worst of it," New South Wales premier Gladys Berejiklian said
"It's a very volatile situation."Image:Thick smoke hangs over the town of Orbost in VictoriaThe storm conditions are caused by
pyrocumulonimbus clouds - thunderstorms formed from the smoke plume of a fire that causes air to rise rapidly and collide with ice particles
in the higher, cooler air, and building up electrical charges that create lightning.Rising air also produces intense updrafts that suck in
so much air that strong winds develop - making fires hotter and spreading them further and faster.The phenomenon is expected to become more
frequent in Australia as the global climate changes, according to a 2019 report by the country's Climate Council.Image:Evacuees arrive on
board MV Sycamore at the port of HastingsOn Monday, a firefighter was killed when a pyrocumulonibus cloud formation collapsed and flipped
The total number of people killed since the fire season began is 23 - 12 from this week alone, with six people missing in the state of
Victoria.Australia's government has called up 3,000 reservists and committed $20m AUS to hire four special fire-fighting aircraft
A third navy ship with disaster and humanitarian relief equipment has been deployed, while the first of those rescued from a beach in
Mallacoota arrived in Melbourne after a 20-hour sea journey.US singer Pink has pledged $500,000 to help fire services battling on the
She tweeted: "I am totally devastated watching what is happening in Australia right now with the horrific bushfires."I am pledging a
donation of $500,000 directly to the local fire services that are battling so hard on the frontlines
My heart goes out to our friends and family in Oz."Firefighters say some areas cannot be defended.Sky News' Alex Crawford witnessed the
fires from a helicopter, where she said visibility was almost at zero in white-outs caused by the smoke."There's a lot of anxiety here, a
"I've seen a lot of posters thanking the firefighters, who are doing their utmost to contain these raging fires."New South Wales Rural Fire
Service Deputy Commissioner Rob Rogers warned the fires could move "frighteningly quick"
Embers carried by the wind had the potential to spark new fires or enlarge existing blazes."We still have those dynamic and dangerous
conditions, the low humidity, the strong winds and, what underpins that, the state is tinder dry," Victoria Emergency Services Commissioner
Andrew Crisp said.One fire on Kangaroo Island, which has killed two people, has broken containment lines and been described as "virtually
unstoppable" as it roared through 14,000 hectares (35,000 acres) of national park.Professor Ray Wills, of the University of Western
Australia, produced a map that showed the size of the area burned by fires, if transplanted to the UK, would have scorched most of England,
from the south coast to almost as far north as Leeds.
