Australia braces for volatile summer as world tracks second-hottest year on record

Australians are being warned to prepare for a potentially volatile summer, with heatwaves, bushfires, thunderstorms, floods and tropical cyclones all expected as the severe weather season ramps up.

7NEWS meteorologist Tony Auden has warned the threat is already being felt across parts of the country, with bushfire activity increasing in NSW and Queensland.

“From here on forward, expect dry conditions and worsening conditions for fires in NSW and Queensland for the next two to three months,” he told Sunrise on Tuesday.

The focus will then shift further south as summer progresses, with southern NSW, Victoria, Tasmania and South Australia facing heightened risks from hot and dry conditions.

“Usually we start to see some moisture from about Christmas onwards, but that’s when southern Australia really falls into the threat area,” he said.

“Southern NSW, Victoria, Tasmania, and South Australia need to be on high alert this summer for those hot and dry conditions and fires.”

The warning comes as global temperatures continue to run exceptionally high.

The Copernicus Climate Change Service confirmed 2026 was the second-warmest year on record globally from January to August, behind 2024.

Auden said the warmer global baseline could mean more extreme heat across Australia.

Australia has already experienced an exceptionally warm winter, with the Bureau of Meteorology (BOM) recording Australia’s 2026 winter as the equal third-hottest on record, while NSW, Victoria and Tasmania each recorded their warmest winter on record.

The BOM has also found Australia’s 2025-26 financial year was the ninth-warmest on record, while sea surface temperatures around Australia were the second-warmest, recorded at 0.75 °C above average.

The heat, however, will not mean Australia is necessarily facing a dry summer.

Auden said severe thunderstorms are also expected across the season, potentially bringing damaging hail and other dangerous conditions.

“At the moment, it’s hard to imagine it raining over eastern Australia apart from those little showers that we’ve had. But we are expecting the first little storm outbreak in northern NSW tomorrow, then a bigger round next week,” he said.