Emergency warnings are in place across Queensland and some residents have been urged to leave as bushfires burn on the Western Downs, north-west of Brisbane.

More than 50 bushfires are raging across Queensland as the state sweltered through record heat, and another cyclone brews in the north.

Residents in the path of fire danger were told to flee early on Monday after the state endured its hottest day of the year on Sunday.

People were urged to “leave immediately” near the south-west Queensland towns of Miles and Montrose as a large, fast-moving fire travelled in multiple directions.

“This fire may pose a threat to lives. It will soon be too dangerous to drive,” Queensland Fire and Emergency Services said on Monday.

Residents of Wolvi near Gympie, north of Brisbane, were also being told to prepare to leave, as a fast-moving fire ripped through bushland.

It came after temperatures hit 40 degrees in parts of the state and Brisbane recorded its hottest day in two years at 35.7 degrees.

The bushfires are among about 50 burning across the state.

The weather bureau has forecast hot to very hot conditions and west to south-westerly winds that would elevate the fire danger over south-east Queensland.

The Bureau of Meteorology said fire dangers would remain high for the Darling Downs and Granite Belt in the coming days.

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Heatwave warnings

BOM said a low to severe intensity heatwave was ongoing across parts of Queensland and Western Australia.

Heatwave warnings are current for inland areas of south-eastern and central Queensland and much of inland Western Australia.

Afternoon temperatures were to be five to ten degrees above average on Sunday and likely to reach the low 40s in southern inland Queensland and mid 40s in Western Australia.

Humidity was expected to be much lower than last week’s conditions with cooler conditions forecast from Monday and Tuesday.

Cyclone brews

As bushfires rage in the south, Queensland’s north has been told to brace for a possible cyclone that could bring flooding and damaging winds.

A fresh cyclone watch was declared for coastal communities from the Gulf of Carpentaria to the Queensland border.

The BOM on Sunday night said a tropical low was developing along a strengthening monsoon trough near Groote Eylandt in the gulf.

The low was forecast to deepen further into Monday.

“The most likely scenario for this tropical low is for it to remain below cyclone strength, with gales to the south,” said BOM.

“However, depending on how long the system is over the Gulf of Carpentaria waters, the tropical low may develop into a tropical cyclone early on Tuesday morning.

“The impacts will be similar regardless of whether it develops or not, with heavy rain and strong and gusty winds possibly damaging at times around the Gulf coast.”

Meanwhile Cyclone Gabrielle – which was downgraded to a sub-tropical low pressure system – is headed to New Zealand as residents of Norfolk Island mop up.

Gabrielle passed over Norfolk Island on Saturday night with the storm’s “most destructive winds” missing the island, the Australian outpost’s emergency management authority said.

NZ’s weather forecaster warned of the storm’s impact from Sunday.

Auckland Emergency Management has warned the city is likely to be hit by strong winds on Sunday night, with gusts of up to 140km/h or higher predicted from Monday.

“This system poses a very high risk of extreme, impactful, and unprecedented weather over many regions of the North Island from Sunday to Tuesday,” weather forecaster, MetService, said Sunday.

Last month its biggest city Auckland was hit by record rainfall that sparked floods and killed four people.