Australians to battle record heat after the country’s wettest El Nino year

Australians are set to battle record-breaking temperatures this Spring as the country is expected to also record its wettest El Nino year on record.

Across the country, frequent rainbands persist into August while temperatures are expected to rise as El Nino takes full effect through the end of winter and into spring.

Bureau of Meteorology forecasting predicts rain and thunderstorm activity through Western Australia into this weekend before moving east into South Australia and the Northern Territory.

Parts of Queensland and NSW will experience coastal showers with relatively clear conditions across the rest of the state.

Damaging wind warnings for gusts reaching in excess of 100km/h remain in place across central Tasmania; however, winds are expected to ease into Saturday evening.

Temperatures across the country are expected to rise to above average levels from September to November, following from higher than average temperatures in July across much of the country’s west and east and parts of the north.

“The signal for the season ahead is a continuation of above-average temperatures, both daytime and through the overnight period as well,” BOM general manager Michael Logan said.

“And that’s a continuation of what we have been seeing during winter.”

Weatherzone predicted El Nino patterns in the Pacific would bring record-breaking high temperatures in late 2026.

“By the middle of August, sea surface temperatures in the central tropical Pacific Ocean – a key monitoring region for El Nino – were more than 2.7°C above the 1991-2020 average,” Weatherzone reported.

“These are some of the highest anomalies on record for the central Pacific.

“Computer models predict that this El Nino will continue to strengthen in the coming months and is likely to peak at record-breaking strength towards the end of 2026 … El Nino will likely persist through the first few months of 2027.”

With a slew of rain hitting Australia’s shores in February and March this year, 2026 is shaping up to become Australia’s wettest El Nino year on record.

Australia recorded just below 400mm of average rainfall in the first six months of the year which, compared to 28 previous El Nino seasons, is the wettest first half of a year on record since at least 1900.