Jeremy Clarkson has caused controversy with a column for The Sun in which he wrote that God is embarrassed by Australia and, because of that, "has decided to set fire to it".

Clarkson says in his column that "God didn't want people to live in Australia" and tells Australian residents to "come home".

"You'll like it. It never stops raining. And we are better at sport," he wrote in the controversial piece.

Clarkson has been slammed on social media for his attempt at humour, with people pointing out the terrible timing and taste of his jokes, as a whole country burns.

Clarkson said Australia is "God's laboratory".

"A place far, far away where he could house all his experiments that had gone wrong," he wrote.

"For millions of years, this big, sandy cupboard under the stairs went unnoticed. But then along came Captain Cook and now the world knows all about Oz and its stupid, dangerous creatures," he continued.

"Plainly, God is embarrassed. Because he's decided to set fire to it.

"It's been argued the fires raging across the country were caused by global warming or out-of-control barbies. But when you look at the footage, you know something biblical is going on.

"Thousands of homes have been obliterated. And people are dying. This has happened before in recent years and there's no doubt it will happen again. Which means people must accept that Australia isn't meant for human habitation," he added.

People took to social media to slam Clarkson's attempt at humour in the face of such tragedy.

I can't believe the poor taste and lack of empathy from @JeremyClarkson in regards to the Australian bush fires. I've been a fan of his for donkeys years but this is below him and ruins @thegrandtour for me #AustraliaBurning #PrayForAustralia

— Vander (@VanderDB9) January 4, 2020

As awful as headlines and contributions go, you’d be hard pressed to beat this by @TheSun & @JeremyClarkson
Apparently God decided to burn Australia & everything that lives there.....
I like a laugh more than most but this is 🤢🤢🤮🤮🤮🤮 pic.twitter.com/J73Gdx5Hz5

— Richard Poxon (@RichPoxon) January 4, 2020