Australian heatwave sparks fires - in pictures

Tammy Holmes and her grandchildren take refuge under a jetty as a wildfire rages nearby in the Tasmanian town of Dunalley Photograph: Tim Holmes/AP

A farmer checks on her sheep on burnt farmland near Bookham, outside Yass, New South Wales Photograph: Lukas Coch/EPA

A firefighter is almost surrounded by flames by the Dean's Gully fire near the town of Wandandian, New South Wales Photograph: Dean Lewins/EPA

A wildfire crosses the Princes Highway near Deans Gap, south-east Australia Photograph: James Morris/AP

Police and rescue services search among homes destroyed by bushfires at Copping in southern Tasmania Photograph: Patrick Caruana/EPA

Firefighters douse burning logs from the Deans Gap fire near Nowra on the south coast of New South Wales Photograph: Greg Wood/AFP/Getty Images

Firefighters battle a grass fire in Oura, near Wagga Wagga, in New South Wales Photograph: Lukas Coch/AFP/Getty Images

A melted fibreglass boat at the jetty after bushfires swept through the region over the weekend at Boomer Bay, on the Tasman peninsula in Tasmania Photograph: Rob Blakers/EPA

Rural fire service firefighters tackle a grass fire just outside of Gunning in New South Wales Photograph: Gary Ramage/Newspix/Rex Features

Huge numbers of Sydneysiders cool off on Bondi beach Photograph: Sijori Images/Zuma Press/Corbis

A grass fire outside of Gunning in New South Wales Photograph: Gary Ramage/Newspix/Rex Features

Smoke billowing as a bushfire burns near Green Point in New South Wales Photograph: NSW Rural Fire Service/AFP/Getty Images

Tiqui, a Brazilian tapir, is given a shower in its enclosure at the Taronga zoo in Sydney. Keepers prepared cold treats for animals to give them respite from the hot weather Photograph: Manan Vatsyayana/AFP/Getty Images

A man jumps into the sea to cool off at Manly beach in Sydney Photograph: Manan Vatsyayana/AFP/Getty Images

People cool off in a fountain at Darling Harbour as temperatures soar to 41.8C in Sydney Photograph: Tracey Nearmy/EPA

A huge cloud of smoke rises in the distance as New South Wales firefighters prepare to protect properties near the town of Wandandian, near Sydney Photograph: Dean Lewins/EPA

Burnt out cars at the jetty on the Tasman peninsula in Boomer Bay, Tasmania Photograph: Rob Blakers/EPA