Australia's two largest cities, Sydney and Melbourne, have experienced their warmest and equal warmest winters on record, respectively. The Bureau of Meteorology (BoM) reported that Sydney's mean temperature reached 15.3C at Observatory Hill, exceeding the previous record of 15.0C set in 2013. Melbourne's mean winter temperature of 12.2C matched its 2005 record.
New South Wales, Victoria, and Tasmania also recorded their warmest winters. Across the country, Australia's mean temperature was 1.45C above the 1961–1990 average for winter, marking the equal third-highest on record since national observations began in 1910.
Dr Simon Grainger, a senior climatologist at the BoM, attributed the warmer conditions in the south-east to factors including high-pressure systems in the Tasman Sea, which brought warmer air from the tropics, and the developing strong El Niño. He also noted that these events are occurring against a backdrop of a globally warmer climate.