Residents along the northern West Australian coast are bracing for Tropical Cyclone Luana's forecast landfall as a category two system.
Heavy rain, flash flooding and destructive wind gusts up to 155km/h are expected as the wind storm crosses the coast.
Tropical cyclone warnings are in place for Broome, which is more than 2200km north of Perth, to northeast of Kuri Bay in a remote stretch of the Kimberley coast, as well as Derby and neighbouring inland areas.
"We are already seeing wind gusts building along the coast," Bureau of Meteorology forecaster Jonathan Howe said.
"And these coastal areas can expect gales and damaging winds to strengthen through the day, particularly through the warning area."
Further south, an emergency bushfire warning is in place for the rural town of Bannister and surrounds, roughly 120km southeast of Perth.
Residents have been urged to leave immediately, if it's safe to do so.
Inland heatwave warnings have been issued in South Australia, Victoria, NSW and southern Queensland.
From Saturday, a run of between five and eight hot days and nights is likely.
Total fire bans are in place across South Australia and Victoria, with temperatures in coming days to rival those recorded in the Black Summer of 2019-20.
SA's Yorke and Eastern Eyre peninsulas face catastrophic fire danger, making blazes almost impossible to contain if they break out.
Major fires will test the state's firefighting capabilities, SA Country Fire Service chief officer Brett Loughlin warned.
"In those sorts of circumstances, not everyone will see a fire truck, not every call to triple zero will get the response that you would normally see," he told reporters.
Victoria is forecast to record temperatures between 38C and 44C statewide, with wind gusts expected to peak at 70km/h in some areas.
The mercury in Adelaide is predicted to peak at 43C, while Melbourne is set to top 40.
Play at the Australian Open's four largest courts will start an hour earlier to beat the heat, while the Tour Down Under's iconic Willunga Hill component has been dropped and Saturday's stage time brought forward due to the bushfire danger.
There was potential for new fires to start and spread quickly in forecast conditions, Victorian CFA chief officer Jason Heffernan said.
"We understand it is a long weekend, and many Victorians will be enjoying the great outdoors," he said.
"But we will be declaring several total fire bans over the course of this heatwave event and with that comes shared responsibility."
Bushfires at Walwa and Dargo in northeast Victoria sparked on January 9 in scorching conditions are still burning at watch and act level.
Shallow winds will bring some reprieve to Australia's southeast from Saturday afternoon, with the mercury to rise again from Monday.
Parts of Victoria will edge towards 50C on Tuesday, with a forecast top of 48C at Ouyen, about 400km northwest of Melbourne.
That's 0.8C off the state record set on Black Saturday in 2009.
19°C