While Europe experienced one of its hottest summers on record, Australia is experiencing an unusually warm winter, with several states reporting record high temperatures, DPA reported.
The states of Victoria, New South Wales and Tasmania have recorded their warmest winter since records began in 1910, the Australian Bureau of Meteorology (BoM) announced today.
The average temperature in Australia during the winter was 1.45 degrees Celsius above the average for the reference period 1961 - 1990. This is the third highest value recorded for a winter season in the country.
In Sydney, the winter was also unusually mild. According to BoM climatologist Simon Granger, quoted by the Guardian newspaper, the average temperature in the city reached 15.3 degrees Celsius. The previous record of 15 degrees was recorded in 2013.
Both Melbourne and Canberra recorded temperatures well above normal for the season. According to Granger, the unusually warm weather is likely to continue into the Australian spring, which begins in September.
“We are expecting unusually high daytime and nighttime temperatures in large parts of the country“, the climatologist said. According to him, the weather phenomenon El Niño is also contributing to the conditions, with its influence expected to reach its peak in late spring or summer.
The warm and dry winter is also having an impact on winter tourism. Due to the low snowfall, ski resorts in Victoria and New South Wales are forced to end the season earlier than usual.
The unusual temperatures in Australia are part of a broader picture of climate change, in which extreme values and records are increasingly observed in both high temperatures and rainfall and snowfall, notes DPA.