Victoria issues its first Code Red fire warning in nearly a decade as bushfire warnings spread across six states

• Victoria issued its first Code Red fire warning in nearly a decade as devastating bushfires in Australia continue to spread across states.

• Several areas in Melbourne surpassed the state's all-time November record of 40.9 degrees set in 1894. According to the Bureau of Meteorology Victoria, the highest temperature in Victoria hit 42.4 degrees.

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Victoria on Thursday issued its first Code Red fire warning in nearly a decade as devastating bushfires in Australia continue to spread across states.

Country Fire Authority Victoria (CFA VIC) implemented a total fire ban for the entire state of Victoria on Thursday and also issued a Code Red Fire Danger Rating in the Mallee and Northern Country Districts. The last time Victoria issued such a warning was in 2010.

The Australian Government Bureau of Meteorology also issued a severe weather warning in parts of Victoria and warned of damaging winds in the region.

Several areas in Melbourne surpassed the state's all-time November record of 40.9 degrees set in 1894. According to the Bureau of Meteorology Victoria, the highest temperature in Victoria hit 42.4 degrees.

Bushfires spread across state lines. According to The Guardian, there were still 50 fires burning in New South Wales alone as of 4 p.m. AEST on Thursday.

Six people have died and 1,300 buildings were destroyed in the last two weeks, it added.

Australia in the last 72 hours. #nswfires #qldfires #SAfires #vicfires #WAfires pic.twitter.com/aTCGPTl2aN

— Isobel Roe (@isobelroe) November 20, 2019

Victorian emergency management commissioner Andrew Crisp said that the Grampians experienced 130 km/h winds this morning, and 2,000 firefighters were dispatched across the state.

Cool weather swept through Melbourne as of 4 p.m. local AEST, with temperatures dipping down to 19 degrees.

33 people were injured in South Australia on Wednesday. The town of Yorketown in South Australia was evacuated on Thursday due to a blaze nearby.

67 fires were still burning in Queensland as of 3:30 p.m. AEST. Bushfire conditions were reported across Queensland, New South Wales, Victoria, South Australia, Western Australia and Tasmania, according to The Guardian.

Sydney has been blanketed with a thick grey cloud of smoke from bushfires raging hundreds of kilometers away.

The heavy smoke made Sydney the 16th worst city in the world for air quality on Thursday, behind global hubs with notoriously bad air quality like Delhi, Mumbai, and Beijing.

Though bushfires are a common occurrence during Aussie summers, scientists have said that Australia's fire season is beginning earlier and becoming more extreme as a result of climate change.