Latest Report
The Australian Climate Update Report for Summer 2025, covering the period from December 2024 to February 2025, highlights the most recent changes to temperatures and rainfall across Australia at multiple geographies. It looks at seasonal average air temperatures and total rainfall both in absolute terms and relative to the 1941 - 1970 average, and also ranks them over the period 1889 to present day. The Australian Climate Update distinguishes itself from other products by being relevant to a large number of smaller scale geographies that are relevant to both communities (567 LGA areas) and ecosystems (86 IBRA areas).
Key points from the latest report:
Australia experienced its 2nd warmest summer on record, behind 2019. Total national rainfall for summer 2025 was in the lower 45th percentile, so could not be considered either abnormally dry or wet.
The warmest state on record was the Northern Territory with an average maximum temperature of 38.6 ºC and the warmest maximum temperature anomaly was for South Australia at 2.9 ºC. The wettest state on record was Queensland, however at the 59th highest summer rainfall on record this could not be considered abnormally wet. The wettest total rainfall anomaly was for Western Australia, with a 36% increase in rainfall over the 1941-1970 baseline average. The dryest total rainfall anomaly was for the Northern Territory, however as a percentage compared to the baseline the dryest state would be South Australia, with a 59% reduction compared to the 1941-1970 average.
The warmest capital city area on record was Greater Darwin with an average maximum temperature of 34.0 ºC and the largest maximum temperature anomaly was for Greater Adelaide at 3.1 ºC. The wettest capital city on record was Greater Brisbane. The wettest total rainfall anomaly was also for Greater Brisbane, and the dryest total rainfall anomaly was for Greater Sydney.
To see more specific information from the latest report, including detailed breakdowns by state, GCCSA, IBRA, and LGA, download the latest version here. You can also access previous reports here.
Our methods do not replace those used by the Bureau of Meteorology (BOM), which should be considered the national authority on all matters relating to the climate. We use interpolated gridded data sourced from the SILO project, which although based on data from BOM, may be less reliable when compared directly with observational data. To understand more about SILO data please read here. We also use a different baseline for calculation of anomaly values. This baseline is calculated across 1941 - 1970, rather than 1961 - 1990 as is done by BOM. Because of these and other various reasons, much of the specific information we produce will not agree with that produced by BOM and should not be directly compared. However, we believe that general inferences from our analysis will broadly align with those determined by BOM as well as other organisations about the state of the Australian climate. To read more about our methods please see here.