Bushfire live blog: 'We will put you in court': Cop's warning

The "Pommy weather girl" at the centre of a viral interview with Liberal MP Craig Kelly said she felt "enraged" about his comments about climate change.

The huge toll on Australia's wildlife from the bushfires continues to grow with an ecologist now estimating more than one billion creatures may have died.

Victoria and NSW are preparing for more dangerous fire days on Thursday and Friday as scattered showers are welcomed by fire ravaged communities.

In NSW, more than 13mm fell at Merimbula on Monday, 9.8mm at Bega and 2mm at Nowra and Lake Conjola.

In Victoria, the rain that is giving bushfire-hit areas some much-needed relief will continue throughout Tuesday.

Monday saw all emergency warnings being downgraded, while 14 active fires continued burning statewide.

The climate change debate also heated up with a Liberal MP's appearance on a British breakfast show causing controversy. 

Updates

11:38 pm January 7, 2020 Highlight

'They're really glad I said it': British meteorologist

British meteorologist Laura Tobin says she's been inundated with support from Australians after clashing with Liberal MP Craig Kelly on Good Morning Britain.

After appearing on The Project tonight, Tobin told GMB presenters Piers Morgan and Susanna Reid that "lots of people from Australia" had been sending her "love and support".

"Saying they're really glad that I've said it. They're really glad that I've called out their government," she said.

Reid joked that Tobin had gone viral in Australia for telling the truth about climate change.

"I understand you're well in demand now in Australian television because they need people like you," she said.

"I think probably a lot of people don't know the facts and it's nice to explain in a really simple way what is happening," Tobin replied.

Mr Kelly called Tobin an "ignorant Pommy weather girl" after their combative interview, but Tobin said that couldn't be further from the truth.

"I have no agenda I was just just literally telling the facts," she said.

"And I watched from the sidelines and had the outburst because I was so infuriated by his lack of understanding."

Morgan also chimed in, saying "I'm afraid Mr Kelly you are the ignorant one".

9:29 pm January 7, 2020 Highlight

British 'weather girl' was enraged at Kelly

The British meteorologist at the centre of a viral interview with Liberal MP Craig Kelly said she felt "enraged" about his comments about climate change.

Laura Tobin told The Project she blames Australia for the lack of progress on climate action.

Tobin said Australia would not agree to limit global temperature rise to 1.5C at the recent COP25 climate summit in Madrid and this meant the proposal could not move forward. Australia will not even be able to reach the less ambitious 2C target without using "legal loopholes".

"So I was already kind of a bit infuriated with the stance that Australia have," she said.

Tobin said many people didn't know that while Australia's population waas not as big as America and China, "per person, you're worse than America and China… just second in the world behind Saudi Arabia".

"Maybe (Mr Kelly) didn't know that and maybe he didn't like to hear that but that's the stark reality.

"That's why I said 'get your head of the sand' because I just felt enraged that he just doesn't seem to understand the reality and the infuence that Australia does have in the world."

Tobin said everyone needed to be informed.

"When I watched (Mr Kelly) yesterday having his interview with Piers Morgan and Susanna Reid, I just felt really infuriated," she said.

"Because if he's not informed and he's setting these policies, or lack of policies, then that has a massive effect not just across Australia but across the whole world."

7:33 pm January 7, 2020 Highlight

More than 1 billion animals feared dead

The huge toll on Australia's wildlife from the bushfires continues to grow with an ecologist now estimating more than one billion creatures may have died.

University of Sydney Professor Chris Dickman told HuffPost that given the extent of the bushfires, he now believes more than one billion mammals, birds, reptiles, bats, frogs and invertebrates have died in the blazes.

Photos of the suffering of koalas and other Australian wildlife have been some of the most heartbreaking images to come out of the fires.

6:17 pm January 7, 2020 Highlight

Craig Kelly apologises to 'pommy weather girl'

Liberal MP Craig Kelly has apologised for calling a British television host and meteorologist an "ignorant Pommy weather girl".

Mr Kelly made the comments about Laura Tobin in a Facebook post that has now been deleted and he told The Sydney Morning Herald he was sorry but did not have the woman's contact details to apologise directly to her.

"I apologise to her. There was a bit of quid pro quo to it, it was at the end of a rather combative interview," he said.

"I use the word 'pommy' as a term of endearment for all my English mates. The 'weather girl' might have been a little bit tongue-in-cheek. But she used the 'denier' slur and basically cut me off and didn't give me a chance to respond."

Govt @LiberalAus MP denies climate change on UK TV. Challenged by presenter. On Facebook, MP calls her ‘Ignorant Pommy Weather Girl’. Uncensored by MP, followers pile in: ‘brain washed trollop’ ‘3/4 retarded’ ‘airhead’ ‘back in our day, weather girls were good looking sorts’. pic.twitter.com/pvmqqjHc32

— Louise Milligan (@Milliganreports) January 6, 2020

5:34 pm January 7, 2020 Highlight

Update: Two missing men found

Two men previously unaccounted for – one at Kiah and one at Lower Towamba – have been located.

There are no current reports of missing people in bushfire-affected areas in NSW.

5:30 pm January 7, 2020 Highlight

Smoke making its way to Argentina

The smoke from Australia’s bushfires has arrived in Chile after crossing more than 11,000 kilometres of Pacific Ocean.

A meteorological trough is suspected to be the conduit through which the haze has managed to travel so far.

Authorities say the smoke is especially visible in central Chile, where mist is covering the sky that under normal circumstances would be cloudless, and could stay around for up to a day.

“In the coming days probably it will head toward Argentina,” meteorologist Edita Amador, who works for Chile’s Weather Directorate, said on Monday.

The presence of smoke should not cause any serious effects in the South American nation, since it rarely rains in that area.

The only consequence so far, Amador said, was a reduction in the ultraviolet radiation reaching the ground because of the “cap” that these kind of clouds form over the land.

– AAP

5:22 pm January 7, 2020 Highlight

'Couldn’t give a rats what he said'

Senior government ministers are distancing themselves from an outspoken backbencher who dismissed the link between climate change and bushfires.

Liberal MP Craig Kelly has caused major headaches after appearing on British television to talk about Australia’s bushfire crisis.

Emergency Management Minister David Littleproud described his comments as a “sideshow”.

“He doesn’t represent the views of the government,” Mr Littleproud told reporters on Tuesday.

“I couldn’t give a rats what he said, it’s irrelevant, let’s just focus on those people that are out there that need our help.”

Mr Kelly said the suggestion the government could have reduced the bushfires by bringing down carbon emissions was nonsense.

Instead, he made disputed claims that fuel loads were largely to blame for the spread of the fires.

Treasurer Josh Frydenberg also put Mr Kelly at arms length from the government.

“Our view of climate change is that it’s real. We accept the science,” Mr Frydenberg said.

Labor leader Anthony Albanese said he was despaired by Mr Kelly’s comments.

“The tragedy is that he’s imposed those views along with a few others to ensure that Australia isn’t taking action,” Mr Albanese said.

After being panned for the “train wreck” interview, Mr Kelly has defended his decision to go on air, saying he needed to defend the government because it was under attack.

– AAP

4:37 pm January 7, 2020

Another way you can help the animals

3:53 pm January 7, 2020

True scale of destruction

Sky News reporter Truly McIntosh has tweeted the damage she's seen in Selywn Resort.

"Manager Andrew Dunkerley tells me that they aim to rebuild Selwyn bigger and better than ever – and Perisher and Thredbo has offered to support to get them back up and running," she wrote.

The popular ski resort in NSW has been severely damaged by fires that tore through the Snowy Mountains on Saturday. Read more here.

This is what fire does to those massive snow graders – pictures taken by the operations manager at Selwyn Resort who managed to get in to see the destruction for himself this morning pic.twitter.com/DQ8JKwjdWr

— Trudy McIntosh (@TrudyMcIntosh) January 7, 2020

3:49 pm January 7, 2020

'Could've been a heck of a lot worse'

Corey Wingard, the South Australian emergency services minister, delivered an update on the damage to Kangaroo Island just now.

He said given the conditions and the severity of the fire, it could have been a heck of a lot worse.

He said 10 buildings had major damage and 18 had minor damage.

He said 236 outbuildings had been damaged and 257 vehicles damaged as well.