Bush fires rage out of control near Perth, Australia

Fire-fighters are battling two blazes to the east and north of the city where high flames are being fanned by winds of up to 70km/h (44mph) leaving hundreds homeless.

The fires near Perth follow major flooding in Queensland and Victoria.

Towns on the north-east coast of the country are continuing to clean up after last week's Cyclone Yasi.

Coming in the wake of widespread flooding and a massively-destructive Cyclone Yasi Australia's summer of disasters, many have remarked how there does not seem to be an end to Australia’s spate of natural disasters.

The blazes come two years after 173 people died in bush fires that swept through the southern state of Victoria, causing widespread devastation.