Melbourne records its warmest winter on record, as bushfire season looms

Melbourne has officially recorded the warmest winter since records began in 1855, with a mean temperature of 12.8 degrees – just above the 2013 record of 12.7 degrees.

On Tuesday, the first day of spring, Melbourne reached a top of 23 degrees – well above the average September maximum of 17.3 degrees – before forecast showers in the evening.

Winter weather records show warm conditions extended up the eastern seaboard, smashing temperature records.

Sydney experienced its warmest winter in 167 years of records, according to Weatherzone meteorologist Ben Domensino, and Sydneysiders can expect the warmest start to spring in more than 50 years, with temperatures predicted to reach between 24 and 27 degrees this week.

Temperatures are also expected to soar in Brisbane over coming days , potentially reaching 33 by Thursday and staying within a few degrees of that maximum at the weekend.

Domensino attributes the immediate cause to a large high-pressure system passing over southern Australia that is allowing a hot air mass to build up over the country’s interior and north-west, spilling towards the east and south.

He said the mean seasonal temperature for this winter stood at 15.27 degrees – about 2.25 degrees above the long-term winter average – and was on track to beat the previous record of 14.95 degrees set in 2013.

Temperatures have been elevated by a lack of strong cold fronts and east-coast lows, which in turn had an impact on the snow season.

Snow resorts in Victoria and NSW closed early this year after a season of low snow cover, which also led to the value of Thredbo alpine resort being written down from $292 million to $143 million.

“I grew up skiing at Selwyn snowfields and remember having to dig our front doors out at Cabramurra,” said Mia “Miff” Rennie, a member of the advocacy group Protect Our Winters.

“That’s now a thing of the past. I have seen firsthand how quickly our winters are changing and how quickly we need to respond so future generations can continue to experience the magic of winter that I grew up with.”

Australia’s area-averaged mean temperature in July was 1.14 degrees above the 1961-90 average, the warmest since 2023. All states and territories had above-average mean temperatures in July. Tasmania and Queensland were within their top seventh- and 10th-warmest July months on record since 1910, respectively.

Western Europe enters autumn having been battered by a rolling series of heatwaves and its hottest ever June and July period.

The Mediterranean Sea has been supercharged with so much heat that it is expected to keep regional temperatures higher than average over coming months, prompting warnings of increased flood risk in some countries.