Australia is set to burn if El Nino returns as predicted, bringing hot and dry conditions.

While a official declaration of an El Nino event for Australia is yet to take place, the Bureau of Meteorology last week enacted an alert.

Scientists are tipping it could be “The strongest El Nino ever measured”.

While El Nino is a worldwide phenomenon, Australia is the most vulnerable nation in the developed world because it raises the risk of drought, heatwaves and bushfires in the east of the country.

Greg Mullins, an internationally recognised expert in responding to major bushfires and natural disasters, predicts an above normal fire season for the year ahead. “We’re set for a bad year,” Mr Mullins told a Climate Council media briefing on Monday.