Farmers in parts of the state of New South Wales in Australia were dancing at the crossroads over the weekend after the first significant rains fell in years with some farmers battling ongoing drought.

In the northwest of the state, the town of Bourke and surrounding area saw 94mm of rain fall, with local reports saying it is the biggest single rainfall event since 2012.

One farmer, from Tottenham in the state, said that their farm received 38mm of rain. He added that while it was not drought-breaking, it was a start.

Some farmers have recorded up to 100mm in their rain gauges.

Gillian Fennell, a farmer in Marla, southern Australia, tweeted that, over the weekend, it was the most rain they had had in 12 months on the farm, with 8mm recorded in the rain gauge.

Fire risk

As the drought continues, the New South Wales rural fire service has a number of fire warnings in place from very high to severe.

It said: “The rain over the past 24 hours has been most welcome, however it has only made a small dent in the fire danger.

“With warm and windy conditions expected later this week, very high to severe fire danger is likely on Thursday and Friday. Still plenty of time to prepare and plan.”