Residents of Beerwah on the Sunshine Coast hinterland have been warned to be ready to leave their homes as firefighters work to battle a fast-moving grassfire near the Australia Zoo tourist attraction.

Queensland Fire and Emergency Services issued a Prepare to Leave warning at 3.27pm Monday for properties between Steve Irwin Way, Irwin Road, Mawsons Road and the Bruce Highway, including Holt Road.

“Conditions could get worse quickly, prepare to leave and start taking protective action now,” it said.

Police and ambulance crews are standing by at the scene, with Queensland Police urging motorists to avoid the area, and warning of delays on the busy Bruce Highway.

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QldFES also issued a Stay Informed warning for nearby Caloundra West and Aura.

The Tasmanian Fire Service has also a Bushfire Advice for the Colebrook Area, telling residents to monitor conditions.

“If you are not prepared, plan to go to a safer place,” it said..

Several blazes are active throughout eastern Australia, including a fire near Cessnock in the NSW Hunter region.

NSW Rural Fire Service volunteers worked overnight to bring a bushfire under control after it threatened properties at Neath.

RFS commissioner Rob Rogers said firefighters were still working to contain fires on the state’s north coast as temperatures increased and conditions worsened.

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“The difficulty is that there is quite a lot of grass fuel that’s carrying the fires and making them burn quicker than you would normally expect and obviously [combined with] that very unseasonably warm weather,” Rogers told ABC Radio.

He said firefighting efforts were boosted by the addition of a Chinook helicopter, delivered in July. It would not have been available this early in the season if authorities had to rely on aircraft contracted from overseas.

Residents in Emerald, a rural town in central Queensland, were told to immediately leave their homes on Sunday as a fast-moving bushfire approached.

The Emerald fire was under control by Monday afternoon after firefighters spent hours battling the ferocious blaze in sweltering conditions. Residents were able to “return with caution” late on Sunday.

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The fires come as much of south-east Australia experiences unseasonably hot weather.

Temperatures were expected to reach a maximum of 31 degrees in the Sydney city centre on Monday before rising to 34 degrees later in the week, while the mercury was tipped to rise to as high as 36 degrees in the city’s western suburbs.

Similar peaks were likely on much of the NSW coast until Wednesday. Temperatures were also forecast to soar across much of inland Australia, the Bureau of Meteorology said.

Beginning from Wednesday, the heat was expected to shift north into parts of Queensland, the Northern Territory and Western Australia, driving highs of up to 40 degrees.

-with AAP