Dean Lewins / EPA

Wearing protective clothing, a firefighter is almost surrounded by red hot flames as he protects a property affected by the Dean's Gully fire near the town of Wandandian south of Nowra, New South Wales on Jan. 8. No properties, apart from some farm sheds, have been lost in the Dean's Gully fire, which continues to burn out of control. New South Wales has been declared a total fire ban with the Illawarra, Shoalhaven and Southern Highlands placed under 'catastrophic fire conditions,' the highest fire danger level.

Julian Smith / EPA

A kangaroo hops through a burnt-out paddock after a grassfire in Sunbury, north of Melbourne, Victoria on Jan. 8. The fire has been contained.

By NBC News staff and wire reports

Firefighters battled scores of wildfires raging across southeast Australia on Tuesday as authorities evacuated national parks and warned that record-level, blistering temperatures and high winds had led to "catastrophic" conditions in some areas.

"We are shaping up for one of the worst fire danger days on record," New South Wales Rural Fire Service Commissioner Shane Fitzsimmons said. "You don't get conditions worse than this. We are at the catastrophic level and clearly in those areas leaving early is your safest option."

Catastrophic threat level is the most severe rating applicable. Continue reading.

Dean Lewins / EPA

A sky crane water bombing helicopter flies through thick smoke over the town of Wandandian south of Nowra, on Jan. 8.

Lukas Coch / EPA

Firefighters continue to hose around a tree that survived a grass fire in Oura, near Wagga Wagga in New South Wales, on Jan. 8.

Rob Blakers / EPA

Alison Palmer, right, and her eleven-year-old son Zac at her parents' house, which was destroyed after bushfires swept through the region at Boomer Bay on the Tasman Peninsula in Tasmania, on Jan. 8. Residents on a southern Tasmanian peninsula have been urged to seek refuge ahead of a renewed bushfire threat across the region.

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Previously on PhotoBlog:

• Wildfires in Tasmania destroy more than 100 homes
• After the fire: Resident returns to devastated ND town
• Wildfires continue to burn in the West

Damian Shaw / EPA

Sydney Festival's giant Rubber Duck installation, Darling Harbour, Australia on Wednesday, Jan. 3, 2013. This is the latest incarnation of artist Florentijn Hofman's famous oversized toy which measures 15m high and 18m wide and has been commissioned especially for this year's Sydney Festival.

Check out more PhotoBlog posts of Australia

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David Gray / Reuters

Fireworks explode on the rooftops of buildings during a 9 p.m. show prior to the new year celebrations in Sydney on Dec. 31, 2012.

Brendon Thorne / Getty Images

People watch fireworks under The Sydney Harbor Bridge during New Year's Eve celebrations on Dec. 31, 2012.

Rob Griffith / AP

Fireworks explode around the Opera House during the pre New Year's Eve celebrations in Sydney on Dec. 31, 2012.

Eager revelers camped Sunday night on the shores of Sydney Harbor to get the best vantage points as 1.5 million were expected to gather to watch the fireworks show centered on the Sydney Harbor Bridge, The Associated Press reports.

The shores were packed when an eight-minute preliminary show for young children exploded over the harbor three hours before the main event in Sydney and as the clock struck midnight in Samoa and other South Pacific islands to the east, ushering in the new year there.

Read more about New Year celebrations around the world and take a look at the slideshows below.

Slideshow: New Year's traditions

Mariana Bazo / Reuters

We may have different calendars, customs and beliefs, but most of us mark the arrival of a new year. Take a look at the ways cultures around the world celebrate and bring good luck for the year ahead.

Launch slideshow

Slideshow: Celebrations as 2013 dawns

Brendon Thorne / Getty Images

From Sydney to Siberia, revelers prepare to celebrate the dawn of a new year.

Launch slideshow

William West / AFP - Getty Images

A swimmer stops short of a red algae bloom at Sydney's Clovelly Beach on Tuesday. Clovelly and Bondi beaches were closed to swimmers.

Sydney's iconic Bondi Beach and Clovelly Beach were closed to swimmers on Tuesday as a red algae bloom drifted close to shore, Agence France-Presse reports.

While the red algae, known as Noctiluca scintillans or sea sparkle, has no toxic effects, people are still advised to avoid swimming in areas with discolored water because the algae, which can be high in ammonia, can cause skin irritation. 

"It has got quite a fishy smell to it," lifeguard Bruce Hopkins told the Australian Associated Press. "It can irritate some people's skin but generally not much more than that."

William West / AFP - Getty Images

A boy walks along Sydney's Clovelly Beach on Tuesday.

William West / AFP - Getty Images

A seagull stands in a red algae bloom at Sydney's Clovelly Beach on Tuesday.

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Tim Wimborne / Reuters

A potential bidder views a foal at the Magic Millions sales complex on Australia's Gold Coast during an auction of Broodmares from Patinack Farm, the horse racing stud owned by mining magnate Nathan Tinkler, on October 30, 2012.

Martyn Rushby / Handout via Reuters, file

Nathan Tinkler's rise from obscure electrician to mining magnate, sports club owner and champion of a rejuvenated Australian industrial town could be unravelling.

Reuters reports — With a cry of "cheap as old boots" from the auctioneer, the hammer came down at A$5,000 ($5,200) on the first broodmare to open a three-day auction of 350 horses from the stables of faltering mining magnate Nathan Tinkler.

Tinkler's rise from pit electrician to Australia's youngest billionaire has hit a hurdle, with creditors circling his stable of mining, sports and racing businesses, and he is raising funds with the out-of-season sale that began on Tuesday.

His 19.4 percent stake in Australia's biggest independent coal miner Whitehaven Coal, which represents the bulk of his wealth, is heavily leveraged and has shrunk considerably in line with falling coal prices. Read the full story.

Tim Wimborne / Reuters

An auctioneer at the Magic Millions sales complex on Australia's Gold Coast brings his hammer down during an auction of Broodmares from Patinack Farm on October 30, 2012.

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Daniel Munoz / Reuters

Police and wildlife rangers stand next to a dead humpback whale lying in a rock pool at Newport beach in Sydney, Australia on August 1, 2012.

Torsten Blackwood / AFP - Getty Images

The 32-foot adult humpback, which appears to have been dead for several days, washed up in the ocean baths overnight as rough seas lashed parts of Australia's east coast.

Reuters reports — A dead 32-foot whale has washed up into an Australian seaside swimming pool.

Rough seas and a high tide washed the 20 to 30 tonne humpback whale over a chain safety fence late on Tuesday and into a public salt water swimming pool at Sydney's Newport beach.

National Parks authorities said they hope the whale carcass might float out of the pool area on the next high tide. Otherwise, workers might have to bring in a crane to remove the whale and then carve up the carcass.

One swimmer told Australian radio he saw the whale when he turned up for his regular morning dip.

"I swim every day and I'm not sharing my lane with that," he said.

Previously on PhotoBlog:

• Fishermen reel in shark the size of a school bus
• Pakistani man fights police over 40-foot shark
• Crowd pay their respects to beached whale in British Columbia
• Whale of a problem in Rio

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Daniel Munoz / Reuters

Police officers talk to wildlife rangers near the whale carcass at Newport beach.

Paul Miller / EPA

Rangers estimate the whale to weigh between 20 and 30 tonnes.