Wild spring heat and gale-force winds spark fires and chaos across Australia and New Zealand
Immediate impact
Wild, hot winds sweeping from Australia's interior into the southeast fanned dozens of bushfires and pushed spring temperatures to record highs in parts of Sydney, authorities said, as New Zealand faced rare "red" wind warnings and fires of its own across the Tasman.
Australia's Bureau of Meteorology said a powerful plume of hot air that built over the outback on Monday was moving across the southeast, producing a…