Strong winds whip up Australian bushfires

The fires have claimed a 24th life.

That happened in the town of Batlow where a 47-year old man died while defending the home of a friend.

Across the states of New South Wales, Victoria and South Australia almost 2,000 homes are now known to have been destroyed.

Milder temperatures have brought respite in some areas but that's only temporary, with the Prime Minister warning that there was still "months to go" until the end of bushfire season.

Sky's Tom Cheshire has this report.

SUBSCRIBE to our YouTube channel for more videos: http://www.youtube.com/skynews

Sky News videos are now available in Spanish here/Los video de Sky News están disponibles en español aquí: https://www.youtube.com/skynewsespanol

Follow us on Twitter: https://twitter.com/skynews

Like us on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/skynews

Follow us on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/skynews

For more content go to http://news.sky.com and download our apps:

Apple: https://itunes.apple.com/gb/app/sky-news/id316391924?mt=8

Android https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.bskyb.skynews.android&hl=en_GB