La Niña rainclouds bring silver lining as fire risk stays low across much of eastern Australia

Areas still recovering from fires have low fuel loads while other parts of Australia have had more vegetation growth due to rain and have higher predicted loads. Photograph: Darren Pateman/AAP

Months of wet weather across eastern Australia may have a silver lining, with the national council for fire and emergency services advising a normal to below-average likelihood of bushfires this spring in regions devastated during the black summer.

The Australasian Fire and Emergency Service Authorities Council released its seasonal bushfire outlook on Wednesday.