The month of August was the warmest since the national weather service, the Bureau of Meteorology, BOM, began measuring in 1910.
The average mean temperature across the country was 3.03 degrees Celsius warmer in August than the long-term average. The average temperature for the entire winter was 1.48 degrees warmer than usual.
Record temperatures for the season have been recorded across the country. At a military base on the barren and remote northwestern coast, 41.6 degrees were measured – the warmest temperature ever recorded during a winter month.
Overall, the past winter, which in Australia runs from early June to late August, was the second warmest ever recorded. The warmest was in 2023.
"Both day and night temperatures were more than 10 degrees Celsius above average in August for large parts of the country," BOM stated in a statement.
Studies show that the average temperature in Australia is steadily rising, driven by climate changes that also bring more intense bushfires, floods, droughts, and heatwaves.
