DEADLY bushfires have ravaged parts of Australia in recent weeks, whipped up by soaring temperatures, strong winds and the worst drought in decades. But summer hasn’t really even begun — and fears are growing that conditions will only get worse.

More than 100 schools have closed in South Australia as catastrophic fire conditions threatened seven districts across the state yesterday, including the Mount Lofty Ranges and Mid North, near to the state’s capital Adelaide, which is home to 1.3 million people.

Australia’s summer doesn’t even start until Dec. 1 but gale force winds and expected record-breaking temperatures throughout the day could exacerbate dangerous fire conditions.

The fire warning in South Australia has been raised to catastrophic, the highest level. Power to more than 10,000 people had been switched off in South Australia’s Port Lincoln and the Lower Eyre Peninsula because of the catastrophic fire risk, according to CNN affiliate 9News. A total fire ban is in place across the state.

In New South Wales, which is home to nearly 8 million people, blazes have already destroyed three times more land than during the entire fire season last year.

Four people have died and hundreds of homes have been destroyed. More than 1,300 firefighters continue to battle the flames that have ravaged the states of Queensland and NSW this past month.  (SD-Agencies)