At least 10 homes damaged, possibly destroyed, at Peregian Beach

At least 10 homes have been severely damaged, possibly destroyed, at Peregian Beach.

Firefighters working hard to keep a backburn under control on the eastern slopes of Mt Tamborine. Picture: Glenn Hampson

At least 10 homes have been severely damaged, possibly destroyed, at Peregian Beach on the Sunshine Coast after a fast-moving fire tore through bushland and jumped a road, setting several properties alight.

Bushfire approaching the pub at Peregian Beach township. Picture: Lachie Millard

The fire flared up late in the afternoon and threatened the nearby Peregian Springs housing development as well as Coolum State High School.

Police declared an emergency situation, evacuating residents from the beachside town.

The fire is travelling in a northeasterly direction towards Marcus Beach.

Police have urged residents to evacuate north to Noosa.

Residents have been evacuated from a fire outbreak along David Low Way, Peregian Beach, near Lorikett Drive. Picture: Patrick Woods

Nearby town of Yamba has been put on alert as the fire continue to drive north as wind gusts of up to 80km/hour stoke the flames.

EMERGENCY WARNING: Shark Creek 2 fire (Clarence Valley). 4pm update - Fire impacting Angourie and Wooloweyah. Seek shelter if the fire impacts. If you're in Yamba, monitor conditions and watch out for burning embers. Difficult and dangerous conditions. #nswrfs #nswfires #alert

— NSW RFS (@NSWRFS) September 9, 2019

Earlier, residents of Wooloweyah and Angourie were been told it was too late to leave and to seek shelter as a fire front surges towards them and firefighters struggle to take control of the blaze, as fierce winds stoke the blaze.

The bushfires still raging across northern NSW and southern Queensland are worse than “the worst days of summer”, according to the NSW Rural Fire Service.

Watch&Act: Shark Creek 2 (Clarence Valley LGA): Fire activity has increased at the Shark Creek fire in the Clarence Valley. People in areas of Wooloweyah, Angourie & Yamba should monitor conditions for smoke & embers. Know what you'll do if the fire threatens. #NSWRFS #nswfires pic.twitter.com/RmKmzGvVRr

— NSW RFS (@NSWRFS) September 9, 2019

Across the two states, 20 buildings, 15 of which were homes, have been destroyed, and tens of thousands of hectares of land.

Firefighters try contain out of control flames at Shark Creek/Brooms Head Picture: Frank Redward

The Bureau of Meteorology put out a severe weather warning for damaging winds along the NSW coast this morning, and a fire which has been burning for days in the Yuraygir national park has escalated this afternoon, and escalated to an emergency warning level for nearby residents.

A plane joins forces fighting fires at Brooms Head in the Yuraygir national park Picture: Frank Redward

The fire has so far burnt through more than 5500 hectares of land, and NSW RFS said local communities need to be aware of incredibly unpredictable conditions.

Spot fires are starting ahead of the main fire, and anyone in the area is at risk. The immediate risk to people on the northwestern front of the flames, near Gulmarrad has eased, but residents are warned to stay alert.

NSW Rural Fire Service spokesman Ben Shepherd said the fires over the last weekend have been worse than fires in the height of the fire season, and strong winds across the state are expected to continue to fan the flames.

“It is not unusual to see fires at this time of year, what is unusual is the fires behaviour and the fire dangers that we have been seeing, it does not bode well for the coming months,” Mr Shepherd said.

Mr Shepherd said the fires have been so ferocious, and moving so quickly that they create their own weather system, a phenomenon known as a pyrocumulonimbus cloud.

“(When fires) are so large and moving so rapidly they can produce its own weather system and that is extraordinarily risk for our firefighters … when we reach those levels the fire creates its own lightning which strikes ahead of the fire and creates more flames,” Mr Shepherd said.

“The fires we have had over the weekend we typically do not even see these on the worst days of summer,” Mr Shepherd said.

More than 100 fires are still burning in Queensland and NSW, and residents have been warned more properties and livestock could be at risk.

Queensland fires still burning

About 50 properties have been destroyed or damaged by bushfires that continue to burn throughout Queensland.

The fires are burning on 65 fronts, fuelled by low humidity, strong wind and dry vegetation.

Most troubling to authorities were the blazes in the Gold Coast hinterland and Stanthorpe.

The Queensland Government has announced a taskforce will be set up to help the recovery of the heritage-listed Binna Burra Lodge which was gutted by a fire early Sunday morning.

Acting Fire Commissioner Mike Wassing said weather conditions throughout the state were testing firefighters but there was no current threat to homes.

He said the fire burning in the Gold Coast hinterland was particularly difficult to control because of the rugged terrain.

Residents in Ballandean, south of Stanthorpe, have been urged to leave their properties as the fire that has burned in the region since last week advanced on the border town.

“A fast-moving, dangerous fire is travelling in an easterly direction from the New England Highway towards Girraween,” Queensland Fire and Emergency Services said in a warning issued shortly before 2pm.

“It is expected to impact Rees Road, Eukey Road and Pyramids Road”

Fire and Emergency Services Minister Craig Crawford said the worst of the disaster had passed but warned that conditions were still proving difficult to control the fires.

“We’re through the worst of it but still have a couple of days to go,” Mr Crawford said.

“Wednesday is when we will start to see a decrease in this fire weather.

“We still have a number of months to go before we are completely clear of the fire season.”

Bureau of Meteorology spokesman Richard Wardle said wind speeds were expected to increase throughout the day.

“We expect wind gusts could reach up to 80km an hour today in the southeast,” he said.

“The dry air has penetrated deep into the tropical north and is expected to cause very high fire dangers along the northeast coast, including in Townsville and Cairns.

“It won’t be until Wednesday that we see the true easing of the winds and the fire rating drop from very high to high.”

One far north Queensland home was burnt down last week, and fires are now burning north of Rockhampton, another near Gympie and one west of Toowoomba, but no homes are under threat in those areas.

Firefighters work to keep fires away from houses in Dorly St Lakes Creek, near Rockhampton.

The Bureau of Meteorology has put out a severe weather warning for damaging winds along the NSW coast which could accelerate the flames.

Mr Shepherd, however, said that almost anywhere in NSW was vulnerable today as wild winds and dry conditions created a perfect storm for fire danger.

As Sydney will be battered with wind gusts of more than 90km/hr, strong winds along the fire front are expected to continue to stoke fire conditions today, with winds between 30km/hr and 50km/hr around northern NSW.

“Strong and gusty winds still makes it difficult for fire conditions up in the northeastern corner of NSW, the fire level is only at high to very high but … ongoing fires will be difficult,” BOM forecaster Helen Reid told The Australian.

Queensland Acting Premier Jackie Trad said the bushfires were unprecedented for this time of year.

“These fires are historic for a very particular reason and that is because they are so early in the season we have not had before in recorded history fires of this nature commencing so early in Spring,” Ms Trad told Sky News.

“Currently we have very low levels of humidity and that will continue over the next few days … and the winds are quite ferocious so they are spreading those embers throughout the state,” Ms Trad said.

Queensland Premier Anastasia Palaszczuk has defended her decision to fly to Switzerland to have meetings about hosting the 2023 Olympic and Paralympic Games, while parts of the state went up in flames.

“I know the professionals are there and the communities are feeling safe and that was my number one concern before I left,’’ Ms Palaszczuk said.

A fire burns in the Gold Coast hinterland. Picture: AAP/Aleksandar Romanov

Multiple bushfires are still burning out of control in NSW, but have been downgraded from emergency warning levels to ‘watch and act’.

A fire at Bees Nest near Armidale has burnt through almost 63,000 hectares, twice the size of the Sydney council area, and firefighters are still struggling to take control of it.

Another fire at Drake, near Tenterfield is burning out of control and has torched more than 32,000 hectares.

The fire is burning to the north of Ebor, on multiple fronts, impacting Tyringham and Dundarrabin, while a large spot fires also burning in the Muldiva State Forest in the Bostobrick area.

ADDITIONAL REPORTING: AAP