A burst of scorching temperatures and gusty winds have sparked high to extreme fire danger warnings across Victoria, South Australia and Tasmania this weekend.

Northerly winds developing over an approaching cold front will drag hot inland air towards the south-eastern states from tomorrow.

The Bureau of Meteorology has forecast extreme fire danger for parts of western and central Victoria, including Melbourne, and parts of South Australia, including the Mount Lofty Ranges, tomorrow.

Tasmania will see high fire danger as a bushfire remains burning in the north-west of the state.

The bureau is also warning of potential dry lightning and gusty winds, which could spark fires throughout the states.

“It will be quite windy through Saturday across South Australia, Victoria and Tasmania,” senior meteorologist Jonathan How said.

“Then on Saturday night, we do see another pulse of strong winds coming through parts of central Victoria, including around Melbourne, and also parts of Tasmania.”

Maximum temperatures across the three states tomorrow are set to reach six to 12 degrees above the February average.

Melbourne will see a maximum temperature of 37 degrees tomorrow with strong winds of up to 45km/h forecast.

Adelaide is forecast to reach 38 degrees, with possible showers in the afternoon, while Oodnadatta will soar to 43 degrees.

Hobart will see temperatures up to 29 degrees while Launceston reaches 32 degrees. 

“For many people, it will be a bit of a shock, particularly given the cooler conditions across south-eastern parts of the country, but there is a cool change moving through,” How said.

That cool change will bring some relief when it begins to move across the south-eastern states tomorrow night and into Sunday.

On Sunday, Melbourne is forecast to reach 30 degrees with a potential thunderstorm during the day.

Adelaide will drop to a maximum of 26 degrees with only a slight chance of showers in the morning while Hobart cools to 25 degrees with a high chance of thunderstorms.