Smoke from Australian fires could make NZ skies hazy today

Australian officials have warned communities to strengthen bushfire defences as soaring temperatures and strong winds were set to return, threatening to reignite some blazes and start fresh ones.

An emergency-level fire near the Canberra suburb of Beard has forced the Canberra Airport to cancel all incoming and outgoing flights.

French Polynesia's pro-independence leader Oscar Temaru says the smoke from Australia's bushfires is concrete evidence that fallout from nuclear tests affected islands such as Tahiti.

New Zealand is unlikely to be much affected by ash from Australia's bushfires but vulnerable people should be sensible, and care should be taken around untreated drinking water, a physicist says.

The haze over Auckland city from the bushfires in Australia is starting to lift.