Australian firefighters are tackling at least 60 bushfires in the Sydney area, with hundreds of homes threatened.

High summer temperatures of up to 36C (97F) and flames fanned by strong winds, are hampering attempts to fight the fires.

One town in the Hunter Valley is said to be completely surrounded by flames.

A main motorway has been closed because of thick smoke; an army barracks has been reported ablaze, and an electricity sub-station has been destroyed.

There has been a prolonged drought in the state of New South Wales, and the BBC correspondent in Sydney, Phil Mercer, says the dry conditions, continuing high winds and hot weather are a cocktail firefighters fear the most.

Evacuations

"We've got major problems all over Sydney," said Phil Koperberg, commissioner of the Rural Fire Service in New South Wales state.

"It is far from being under control and not likely to come under any form of control until later this afternoon."

Fire officials said it was the sheer number of fires - at least 30 of which broke out within an hour of each other - which had taken everybody by surprise.

Hundreds of emergency workers have been drafted in, along with giant heli-tankers capable of dropping almost 10,000 litres of water onto a fire in one go.

Firefighters evacuated residents from suburbs in Sydney's northwest and southwest as fires burnt out of bush land towards residential streets.

Two residents and five firefighters were burned battling the flames, officials said.

Dangerous forecast

At the Holsworthy army camp, south-west of Australia's most popular city, soldiers have joined efforts to combat a serious fire there.

A spokesman said some troops were attempting to extinguish the flames by beating them with their jackets.

There is no sign of respite. An emergency wind warning has been issued for parts of New South Wales, there is no sign of rain, and temperatures are again expected to hit the mid-30s in the coming days.

Australia is suffering one of its worst droughts in 100 years, and hundreds of bushfires have broken out in recent months.

By the end of November, almost 470,000 hectares (1.16 million acres) of land had been burned in New South Wales alone.