Past year is hottest on record for Australia  

Apparently winter finished here on Saturday - but given that it felt like summer had arrived a few weeks before no one noticed. Apparently we're on track for the hottest year ever, again - Past year is hottest on record for Australia.

The past year has been the hottest ever in Australia since temperatures have been recorded, according to the Bureau of Meteorology, with every one of the past 12 months recording hotter than average temperatures. On average, August was the second warmest on record for maximum and mean temperatures for the whole of Australia, with the maximums averaging 2.60 °C above normal and the mean temperatures averaging 1.60 °C above normal.