The high temperatures and winds that have fanned severe bushfires in southern Queensland ease on Wednesday, but some communities need to stay alert with about 70 blazes still burning. Despite the reprieve, conditions are expected to worsen again on Friday.

After fires tore through parts of Queensland in an earlier-than-expected bushfire season, emergency services are warning of the growing threat to suburban backyards as the weather gets hotter and drier.

Firefighters from South Australia arrive in Queensland to give local crews a rest from battling bushfires, but the break may be short-lived with conditions forecast to get worse in the state later in the week.

Thunderstorms have rolled west across Queensland's southern inland, bringing more rain than expected to the Gold Coast hinterland as well as numerous lightning strikes raising concerns about the possibility of new bushfires.

South-East Queensland's bat population is in crisis as the species faces a mass starvation event which is seeing rescue groups inundated with as many as 50 calls a day reporting deaths and injuries in public spaces and backyards.

An investigation is underway after two police officers fired their weapons during the dramatic arrest of a 53-year-old man suspected of lighting up to four fires in north Queensland.

Concerned about a spike in drownings on Queensland's beaches most of which occur outside the flags lifesavers have come up with a unique way to get people where they want them.

A Queensland community was hit hard when seven young people took their own lives in the space of six months. It's now striving to get more support to those in need.

Australia is the skin cancer capital of the world, so you might be surprised to find there are just 16 ultraviolet radiation sensors around the country monitoring the sun's rays.

I had only been in Rockhampton for two hours when I experienced some form of Islamophobia and I'm a Palestinian-Arab-Christian, writes Ryan Al-Natour.

A Queensland miner has created a popular roadside stop with hundreds of travellers pulling over to take a photo with his now-famous family of Minions.

Fewer than one in 10 pregnant women in Australia have access to what is considered to be the 'gold standard' of maternity care, but one outback Queensland town has adopted the model in a bold move to empower local women and midwives.

William Barton, a Kalkadunga man who grew up in Mount Isa, performs on stages all over the world, from Carnegie Hall to Finland, and even for the likes of the Royal family.

Two men are rescued after being stranded when their six-metre yacht crashed on the shore of a remote island off the Central Queensland coast.

The story of a rare sapphire found in Queensland's Gemfields more than 80 years ago captures the hearts of enthusiasts at a nationally renowned gem festival.

With sales rising and participation in regional Queensland gel ball leagues doubling in some areas, advocates are campaigning to ensure newcomers participate safely.

He grew up behind the famously wonky Ettamogah Pub on Queensland's Sunshine Coast. Now at just 31, Samuel Dale Johnson is a principal singer with one of the world's biggest opera houses.

Before the ambulance existed, if outback Queensland locals had an emergency, they had to drive to themselves to hospital.

After the Queensland Government extinguished native title over the Adani mine site this week, police are concerned a clash is likely between mine workers and traditional owners who have set up a protest camp.

Some regional areas of Queensland see unemployment rates skyrocket above 14 per cent with experts warning it will get worse if the Government doesn't step in.

Controversial changes enforcing quotas on Queensland fisheries have led to a critical breakdown in the relationship between industry and government.

Fire conditions are forecast to worsen again on Friday and Saturday when a dry wind is expected to blow across parts of southern Queensland, raising the fire danger rating from "high" to "very high".

Fire-weary residents at Sarabah in Queensland's Scenic Rim get a reprieve as authorities downgrade the bushfire warning level in the area, but conditions are expected to worsen in southern Queensland on Saturday.

A 39-year-old man from Emerald and a 59-year-old man from the Mackay area are found dead inside a twin-hulled power boat thought to have crashed at high speed off Central Queensland.

The Queensland Government is expected to pass a bill today to introduce new mandatory farm run-off regulations to protect the reef, despite opposition from agricultural groups.

Drum lines used to kill sharks in the Great Barrier Reef Marine Park will be removed after the Queensland Government lost a challenge in the Federal Court to continue its culling program in the protectedarea.

Farmers and local politicians voice their objections to plans to reduce the size of a proposed central Queensland weir as state and federal governments argue over how to deal with a cost blowout.

A wave of dangerous severe fire weather is about to hit southern Queensland with the Bureau of Meteorology forecasting heatwave conditions as temperatures soar up to 40 degrees Celsius in parts of the state.

A drenching is on its way for Queensland, with parts of the state set to receive their best rainfall in months today and on Saturday, with the potential for severe thunderstorms and damaging hail in some areas.

Fewer cyclones are forecast but the Bureau of Meteorology warns a "pretty dangerous cocktail" is brewing for the remainder of Queensland's fire season.

A new species of rockcod, or grouper, is confirmed by the Queensland Museum after two years of testing its DNA, following the discovery of several specimens at a fish market in 2017.

The clean-up is underway after severe thunderstorms left a trail of damage but little precious rain in parts of South-East Queensland and the Darling Downs.