Victoria bushfires LIVE: Avenel evacuated as Longwood bushfire intensifies; Hume Highway closed between Seymour, Violet Town as temperatures rise

Good morning, and thank you for tuning in to our rolling coverage of today’s bushfires and extreme weather. We’ll bring you live updates on the conditions across the state.

Here’s the current situation:

• Residents of several regional Victorian communities have been urged to leave immediately as two bushfires continue to burn out of control.
• An emergency warning has been issued for the townships of Avenel, Caveat, Dropmore, Highlands, Ruffy, Tarcombe and Terip Terip, around 130km north of Melbourne. Residents are urged to leave now as the bushfire burns out of control in the area.
• The bushfire in Longwood, also threatening residents in Longwood East, Ruffy and Upton Hill, is not under control, authorities confirmed, and is travelling west from Longwood towards Locksley.

• The CFA has received unconfirmed reports that some properties have been lost in the Longwood fire.
• A 74-kilometre stretch of the Hume Highway is closed between Seymour and Violet Town, but a relief centre for residents has been set up at the Seymour Sports and Aquatics Centre.
• Another fire near the Victorian/NSW border is still burning out of control, with residents nearby also advised to leave now. The fire ground is 27 kilometres west of Walwa, travelling from the Mount Lawson State Park in a southerly direction towards Bungil.

We will bring you updates on changing conditions as they come to hand.

Victoria sweltered through the first day of summer’s first heatwave on Wednesday, with a high of 44.3 degrees recorded in Longerenong, near Horsham.

As parts of the state, including Melbourne CBD get a one-day reprieve from high temperatures, regions battling uncontrolled bushfires won’t get the same relief.

The weather bureau predicts that Longwood, about 160 kilometres north of Melbourne, will reach a maximum of 42 degrees, with hazy conditions and zero per cent change of rain.

The forecast won’t be welcomed by crews fighting the bushfire, which is burning in a southerly direction towards Ruffy. A spokeswoman from the State Control Centre confirmed that the winds at the fire grounds had shifted, which would impact the fire.

A Vic Emergency warning has been issued, urging residents to leave immediately, as “the fire behaviour is expected to increase during the day and will affect communities south of the fire”.

Read more about it here.

The fire in Longwood is currently burning in a southerly direction towards Ruffy. It is uncontrolled, with unconfirmed reports of property losses.

Images have emerged of the blaze from overnight.