AUSTRALIA- There has been fire alert to Australians following incessant heat which has soar to over 40C in the South-east of the country.

In his speech, the Country Fire Authority Chief Officer Euan Ferguson said the extreme temperatures in areas like Victoria over the coming three days will test fire services and the community, adding that there could be fire outage before Friday.

In Victoria, lightning strikes sparked more than 250 fires on Tuesday night, fire authorities said. A fire ban has been issued across the state.

In Melbourne, a tennis player and a ball boy at the Australian Open collapsed in the heat.

Temperatures in the city remained above 30C for much of Tuesday night.