MELBOURNE, Jan 6 — Australian officials used a respite today from fierce wildfires that have killed 24 people across the country's south-east to race to reopen blocked roads and evacuate people who have been trapped for days.

A second day of light rain and cool winds brought some relief from heatwave-fuelled blazes that ripped through two states over the weekend, but officials warned the hazardous weather conditions were expected to return later in the week.

"No one can be complacent. We've got big fire danger coming our way towards the end of this week with hot weather,” Victoria Premier Daniel Andrews told reporters this afternoon.

Authorities redoubled their efforts today to provide supplies and repatriate thousands of people who have been trapped by fire lines in coastal towns for several days.

"This morning it is all about recovery, making sure people who have been displaced have somewhere safe (to go) and it is making sure we have resources to build up the presence on the ground to clean up the roads, clean up where the rubble exists,” Berejiklian said.

Dean Linton, a resident of Jindabyne in the Snowy Mountains, used the break from an immediate threat to his town to visit his wife and four children who had evacuated to Sydney. He also used the 870 kilometre round trip to pick up a fire-fighting pump and generator to help him protect the family home.

"There's a lot of fuel in that national park; it would only take one lightning strike,” Linton told Reuters.

The bushfire season started earlier than normal this year following a three-year drought that has left much of the country's bushland tinder-dry and vulnerable to fires. More than six million hectares of land have been destroyed in NSW and Victoria states.

Following are highlights of what is happening across Australia: