More than 200 homes have burned down in deadly bushfires that raced to the Australian coast.

At least 43 were destroyed in East Gippsland, Victoria, while another 200 were lost in New South Wales.

On Tuesday, thousands of people who were unable to evacuate fled to beaches as fires encircled their towns.

Conditions have eased slightly, and a major road that was closed in Victoria yesterday was reopened for two hours on Wednesday to allow people to leave.

But in the early hours of New Year’s Day, there were still 112 fires burning in New South Wales alone. Two were classed as emergencies.