Australia... High temperatures and strong winds fuel forest fires

<p style=";text-align:left;direction:ltr"><strong>Weather of Arabia</strong> - Firefighters in the state of Queensland, northern Australia, fought more than a hundred forest fires on Sunday, with temperatures rising above 40 degrees Celsius in parts of the state that suffer from drought.</p><p style=";text-align:left;direction:ltr"></p><p style=";text-align:left;direction:ltr"> The weather bureau said high temperatures and strong winds had fanned forest fires in much of the state, which is known for mining and farming.</p><p style=";text-align:left;direction:ltr"></p><p style=";text-align:left;direction:ltr"> &quot;It&#39;s this warm weather with high winds that is leading to an increased risk of fires today,&quot; Met Office expert Harry Clark told Reuters.</p><p style=";text-align:left;direction:ltr"></p><p style=";text-align:left;direction:ltr"> He added that the weather was &quot;quite unusual&quot; for Queensland for this time of year and the bad weather was unlikely to improve until Tuesday.</p><p style=";text-align:left;direction:ltr"></p><p style=";text-align:left;direction:ltr"> Queensland Fire and Emergency Services said bushfires have been raging for more than a week now in some parts of the state and firefighters have been called in from across Australia to help contain the flames.</p><p style=";text-align:left;direction:ltr"></p><p style=";text-align:left;direction:ltr"> The only fire-related fatality occurred on Friday evening in the town of Rolleston, when a 21-year-old man who was trying to put out a fire was hit by a tree.</p><p style=";text-align:left;direction:ltr"></p><p style=";text-align:left;direction:ltr"> Deputy Prime Minister Michael McCormack said the fires had destroyed more than 1,300,000 acres of farmland in the state.</p><p style=";text-align:left;direction:ltr"></p><p style=";text-align:left;direction:ltr"> <strong>Source: Reuters</strong></p><p style=";text-align:left;direction:ltr"></p>