In pictures: Australian bush fires

As Canberra braces for new bush fires, people count the cost of a weekend when flames licked into the Australian capital's suburbs.

The bush fires are still breathing down on Canberra

National institutions are now caught in the drama

Some citizens are doing whatever they can to protect their property

But for many it is too late, and there will be no returning to their fire-ravaged homes

The firestorm which hit the suburbs gave people little time to evacuate with their valuables

The fire also robbed the country of valuable archives when it hit Mount Stromlo Observatory...

...and, as is always the case with bush fires, the country's unique flora and fauna suffered.