Australia facing two weather extremes

 Firefighters battle a bushfire near Wandin, east of Melbourne (AAP)
Firefighters battle a bushfire near Wandin, east of Melbourne (AAP)

From devastating bushfires and record high temperatures to flooding and the threat of a cyclone, Australian weather has been topsy-turvy and extreme.

The latest bushfires, in Western Australia, have destroyed property and livestock.

Victoria is now cleaning up from multiple blazes, while the top of the island prepares for a drenching.

It's not good for Perth – there's a raging bushfire, just 15km from town, which has seen homes, caravans and cars all go up in smoke and leaving residents desperately trying to save their animals.

Walls of flames, fuelled by 36degC heat and wildly swinging winds, were tackled by firefighters on the ground and in the air. It was a tough and dangerous job.

Across country, parts of Victoria are still on fire and residents are reeling from the extent of the damage already caused.

Sixteen houses are gone and livestock has also been destroyed in what is a heart-breaking start to the bushfire season.

"The stock losses are really, really significant, fencing of course as well, this is people's livelihood, it's a very emotionally… it's a very difficult thing to go through," Victoria Premier Daniel Andrews says.

While two states are in desperate need of water, two others are about to get plenty.

The top of the island – Northern Territory and Queensland – are forecast to be drenched with several hundred millimetres of rain, maybe even a cyclone, expected over the next week.

"There's probably going to be plenty of monsoonal rain right across Queensland and the Northern Territory. [We're] still waiting to see what this low will do; there still is every chance we could see a cyclone coming up towards Christmas," meteorologist Tony Auden says.

Parts of South Australia are already underwater just days after the state broke its December hot weather record – four days over 40degC.

3 News