Sydney smoke haze to continue as fires rage on with no rain due for months

The fire danger remains elevated for NSW and the long-term outlook is bleak despite a southerly change delivering lower temperatures across the state on Wednesday.

While the smoke, which was deemed one of the worst hazes on record, eased slightly on Tuesday evening, it will continue to linger on Wednesday and into the weekend.

The smoke has been pushed further north and inland, with the Riverina area, parts of the Central and Northern West affected overnight, the Bureau of Meteorology said.

The Rural Fire Service has confirmed more than 720 homes have been destroyed over the fire season, and 89 fires were still burning on Wednesday morning.

For exhausted firefighters there is no relief in sight with the bureau not expecting any significant rain for the state until April or May.

"Unfortunately the number of homes destroyed in this fire season continues to rise – now 724 homes confirmed lost. 2.7 million hectares burnt," RFS deputy commissioner Rob Rogers said on Twitter on Wednesday.

Firefighters have also expressed concerns about the impact the southerly change could have on Wednesday on fire grounds surrounding Sydney.

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Temperatures soared in NSW on Tuesday, with hazardous bushfire smoke pollution blanketing much of the state. There were almost 90 fires burning across NSW, with 40 uncontained.

The Bureau of Meteorology says although conditions have eased, the smoke will continue to linger on Wednesday and the next few days.

Smoke across the Sydney basin was so thick at one point on Tuesday it was deemed 12 times poorer than typically "hazardous" levels.

Sydney air quality remains hazardous

Air quality was on Wednesday morning deemed "hazardous" across Sydney's east, southwest and northwest, despite improved visibility.

"We are expecting (the smoke) to continue over the next few days ... with fires to the southwest and north of Sydney, we need easterly winds to help ease the smoke," a BOM forecaster told AAP.

Total fire bans are in place on Wednesday for northwestern NSW, the northern slopes and the central ranges.

Fire danger is severe in the northwestern region and "very high" in the north of the state as well as the upper central west plains, the central ranges, the southern ranges, the southern slopes and the ACT.

On Tuesday evening, an emergency alert was issued for the 67,000-hectare Little L Complex fire near Wollombi in the Hunter region.

Residents living in the Glenroy Estate area were told to seek shelter from the fire as it was too late to leave, however the blaze has since been downgraded.

An emergency warning had also been issued for the Three Mile blaze in the Hawkesbury region but it was downgraded before 4pm.

"The fires just around Sydney alone – there is kilometres and kilometres of back-burning to do to try to lock the fires in," Mr Rogers told ABC TV.

"We've got a lot of people that are very determined to get these fires under control as quickly as we possibly can."

Significant rain not predicted until May

Firefighters had hoped rainfall may play a role in suppressing the fires burning across the state, however they will be concerned with the latest Bureau of Meteorology predictions that significant rain will only reach the state in April, possibly May.

During a meeting between state and federal ministers in Moree on Tuesday, NSW Agriculture Minister Adam Marshall spoke of the bleak outlook ahead.

NSW, Queensland and Victoria are looking very lean for rain and below-average rainfall through summer and heading into next winter,” he told The Australian.

Prime Minister Scott Morrison on Tuesday encouraged Australians to heed expert advice on bushfire warnings and air pollution.

"I can reassure everyone the nationally-co-ordinated effort and the specific state efforts leading the response in each of their jurisdictions has been incredibly professionally deployed," Mr Morrison told reporters.

Some 2700 firefighters were in the field on Tuesday, supported by aircraft.

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