Almost 50 fires are bringing across New South Wales this afternoon according to the state's Rural Fire Service. Almost half of the fires burning at 3pm local time were uncontained, with two Watch and Act alerts in place for fires near Kempsey and Port Stephens. The latter has now burnt through close to 7000 hectares of bushland north and south of the Pacific Highway. A number of today's fires have been going since the weekend, when hot and windy weather elevated fire danger ratings across the state and caused fires to burn out of control. Smoke from today's fires has reduced visibility and air quality in some areas. The air quality index in parts of Newcastle is poor this afternoon, due to smoke from the large fire burning in the Port Stephens area. This fire and smaller burns on the Central Coast have also caused smoke to blow south towards Sydney. The smoke had remained offshore for most of the day, before a sea breeze developed and carried it across parts of the Sydney Basin during the afternoon. Tomorrow will be warm across eastern New South Wales before a southerly change moves up the coast. The change, which may cause showers and storms, is expected to reach Sydney in the morning, the Newcastle area in the middle of the day and weaken before getting near Kempsey in the evening. While conditions could be worse, the combination of early heat, a change in wind direction and possible storms will be challenging for firefighters on Wednesday. The latest bushfire information can be found on the RFS website here: http://www.rfs.nsw.gov.au/