Drivers have been warned to expect delays in the lead-up to Christmas, with catastrophic bushfire conditions forcing the closure of roads and highways across the country.
As residents brace for another day of tough conditions, New South Wales police issued a stark warning to those hoping to travel across the state on Saturday, telling residents “today is not the day to start your holiday”.
In NSW, some roads and highways have been shut, others may close at short notice, while and train services are also being affected.
“We are asking everybody not to travel on roads anywhere near the vicinity of an active fire unless you absolutely have to,” the NSW premier, Gladys Berejiklian, said at a mid-morning press conference on Saturday.
Berejiklian said motorists should avoid the Princes Highway, south of Nowra, due to fires in the Shoalhaven region, as well as Bells Line of Road and throughout the upper and lower Hunter regions.
At 11.30am, a NSW government website said there were 22 roads and highways currently affected by the fires.
These included the Old Hume Highway between Yanderra to Picton, Megalong Road in the Megalong Valley, the Great Western Highway at Marrangaroo, and Bowen Mountain Road and Bells Line of Road, west of Sydney.
The closures mean parts of the central west are essentially cut off from Sydney and the Blue Mountains area until the roads reopen.
Later on Saturday, authorities also closed the Hume Highway at Sutton Forest, between Narellan Road and the Illawarra Highway.
A NSW police spokeswoman told a press conference that trains between Macarthur and Moss Vale had been affected. Bus services were running in some locations but bushfires meant other routes would be affected.
“The New South Wales police message to motorists is today is not the day to start your holiday,” she said. “Delay your travel until tomorrow.”
In South Australia, where a resident died in the Adelaide Hills and multiple firefighters have been injured, 27 roads have been closed to the public, police said on Saturday morning.
“If members of the public attempt to enter the areas, they will be turned away, regardless of being property owners or business owners, due to specific safety reasons,” a police official said.
“At this point safety issues arise because of the risk of fire damage or where trees close to the roadway have not yet been inspected in terms of the risk of them falling on the roadway while people are in their vicinity.”
Two NSW RFS firefighters were confirmed killed in the fires on Friday.
Residents in both states have been asked to monitor the NSW government and SA government live traffic sites before heading out onto the roads on Saturday.
