The 2019–20 Australian bushfire season, also known as the Black Summer, was one of the most intense and catastrophic fire seasons on record in Australia. Exceptionally dry conditions, a lack of soil moisture, and early fires in Central Queensland led to a premature start to the bushfire season from June 2019. Over ten thousand fires burnt, mainly in the south-east of the country, until March 2020. The most severe fires hit from December 2019 to January 2020.