English Opinion

It is a fact that weather systems the world over keep us all on our toes but the extreme weather conditions many of us seem to be facing at the moment could not be more different. In fact, the ends of the Earth are quite literally poles apart in terms of the weather. It is snowing again in the Midlands of the UK, which is highly unusual for us given the level of snow we’ve had in the past week or so. However, in Australia they are having the most extreme heat they have had in quite some time. Unfortunately that heat has caused numerous bush fires to occur, which has in turn led to unprecedented numbers of deaths throughout the country.

The bush fires in Southern Australia have been caused by consistantly high temperatures that have topped 40C. Many are raging out of control, thus leaving hundreds of homes razed to the ground and thousands more homes without power. The death toll currently stands at 93 across Victoria and New South Wales, but that only includes the confirmed deaths. There are thought to be scores more bodies that have yet to be found. Of course, nobody will know that actual figure until the fires have been brought under control but my heart goes out to the families that re waiting on news of their loved ones. With communications being incredibly difficult and power outages being present throughout the area, it must be absolutely heartbreaking not knowing whether brothers, sisters, mothers, fathers, children, grandparents, uncles, aunts and close friends are safe or not.

The firefighters and services that are currently fighting the Australian bush fires are doing an amazing job and are literally fighting the fires every step of the way. Unfortunately nature is preventing them from bringing the fires under control at the moment but I really hope they can prevail soon because this loss of life and loss of the natural environment to the flames is a major catastrophe that ultimately leads to tragedy. My thoughts are certainly with the people in Southern Australia at this time. 

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