Australia Weather News

Victoria is facing its first day of dangerous bushfire conditions this season.

Firefighters are on standby in the Mallee, in the state's north-west, where temperatures are forecast to reach the mid-30s with winds gusting up to 90 kilometres per hour.

Forest Fire Management's Scott Falconer said dry forests and predictions of possible lightning strikes are cause for concern.

"We're going from a pretty mild spring into really unexpected warm to hot weather," Mr Falconer said.

"I would describe this as a bit of a wake-up call that the season's changed."

The Mallee region reaches to the New South Wales border.

Total fire bans have been implemented across half of NSW with some parts expected to hit 40 degrees Celsius for the first time in September since records began.

"The further north you go [in Victoria], the hotter it gets," Mr Falconer said.

"And as most people would know hot temperatures and high winds are the real risk factors."

Holidaymakers warned to be extra cautious

Mr Falconer said the start of the school holidays today increased the risk.

"We anticipate that we'll have a lot of people camping up on the Murray River and in the great parks of the north-west of the state," he said

Authorities urged holidaymakers to take extra care with their camp fires, with gusty winds able to easily carry embers into the bush.

Conditions are not as severe as they are at the height of the bushfire season in January and February, but authorities said people still needed to be careful.

"But we're going into that period and certainly those sorts of temperatures and those sorts of winds really do present a potential threat to people if a fire gets out of a camp fire, for instance," Mr Falconer said.

The Southern Australian Seasonal Bushfire Outlook 2017 predicted the fire season was likely to start earlier and be more active than usual due to a warmer, dry winter and forecast of a hot summer.

Two firefighting aircraft are on standby at Stawell to respond to any fires that break out in the Mallee region.

Strong wind warnings have been issued for much of Victoria, with elevated areas warned to brace for 100 kilometre per hour winds.

But the Bureau of Meteorology warned the unseasonably warm temperatures would not last.

A cold front was expected to cross the state late on Saturday, bringing a cooler air stream.

Snow was predicted above 1,400 metres on Sunday and as low as 1,100 metres on Monday.

ABC