Extinction Rebellion protesters outside Australia House in central London.Credit:Getty
The noisy gathering fell silent and some even sobbed when a man produced aphotograph of 20-month-old Charlotte O'Dwyer,whose firefighter father Andrew O'Dwyer was killed in a blaze south of Sydney.
The protest was organised by the Extinction Rebellion movement but the seemingly endless footage of Australia's bushfire crisis that has captivated and appalled the United Kingdom for weeks now had motivated plenty of newcomers.
"I grew up in Australia so it has been very hard not to react with anything other than horror,"said Lilian Main,whose whole architecture firm left their desks to come to Australia House.
"It makes you feel like home's a long way away,but the world is also a small place and with climate change we are all in it together.
"I don't want this to be the new normal. I'm not OK with that."
A young child wrapped in an Australian flag listens to speakers at the protest.Credit:AP
The London march got under way on Friday just hours after tens of thousandstook to the streets in Sydney andMelbourne amid rising unease in the community over both the political response to the bushfires and the impact of climate change on extreme weather events.