<span style="color: #222222;">In Australia, the heatwave has intensified brushfires ravaging parts of the country and blazes surrounding Sydney worsened under "catastrophic" conditions. Australia's east coast has been hit by a record-breaking heatwave, which has moved in from the west of the country, exacerbating hundreds of fires in its path.<br />''<br />''Today Sydney was shrouded in toxic smoke as blazes flared to its north, south and west, some just 130 kilometres (80 miles) from Australia's largest city. Gladys Berejiklian, New South Wales premier said that they are expecting very difficult circumstances in relation to all the fire fronts.<br />'' <br />'' Temperatures were expected to peak at 47 degrees Celsius in parts of the country's most populous state, New South Wales with west Sydney expected to reach 37C. In the state of South Australia, which in the past few days has borne the brunt of the heatwave, more than 1,500 firefighters have been battling fires that ripped through more than 40,000 hectares of land. <br />''<br />''Two people died in fires there over the past two days, and dozens of firefighters have been treated for injuries and smoke inhalation.<br />'' <br />'' </span><br />