Australia logs second-warmest winter on record

This picture taken on August 30, 2024 shows surfers and swimmers on a winter’s day at Sydney’s Bondi Beach. -Australia has sweltered through its second-warmest winter on record, according to meteorologists, as the country’s southeast cleans up after extreme storms. Agence France-Presse

SYDNEY — Australia has sweltered through its second-warmest winter on record, according to meteorologists, as the country’s southeast cleans up after extreme storms.

The national Bureau of Meteorology said Australia’s mean temperature for winter was 1.48 degrees Celsius (2.66 degrees Fahrenheit) above average, just shy of the record set last year.

“Both daytime and night-time temperatures were more than 10 degrees Celsius above August average for large parts of the country,” the weather bureau said Monday.

READ: Hotter, drier weather likely across Australia for winter and early spring

Western Australia also recorded its warmest winter since 1910.

August was the warmest winter month on record, with parts of the rugged and remote northwest coast reaching 41.6 degrees Celsius (74.8 degrees Fahrenheit).

Official data shows average temperatures for Australia steadily rising, with climate change fuelling more intense bushfires, floods, drought and heatwaves.

READ: Much of Australia set for warm and dry autumn, weather bureau says

Parts of southeast Australia were cleaning up Tuesday after being battered by wild storms, which left thousands without power and one woman dead.

Victoria state Premier Jacinta Allan warned that power outages could take days to fix.

Parts of Tasmania have also been inundated by flooding following heavy rain after a series of cold fronts swept across Australia’s southeast.