The Bureau of Meteorology has published its preliminary key summary for Australia's temperature, rainfall and water resources in 2025. This follows the publication of the raw data for the full 2025 calendar year on the Bureau’s website:
Temperature
Climatology Specialist Nadine D’Argent said according to the preliminary summary, Australia experienced its fourth-warmest year on record in 2025, with temperatures 1.23 °C above the 1961–1990 average.
“This follows Australia’s second-warmest year in 2024,” Ms D’Argent said.
“South Australia and Western Australia both recorded their third-warmest years.
"Between January and March, and between October and December, large parts of Australia experienced heatwave conditions, reaching extreme severity at times.
“Australia’s warmest year was in 2019, when the national annual average temperature was 1.51 °C above average.”
State of the Climate 2024 found that Australia’s climate has warmed by an average of 1.51 ± 0.23 °C since national records began in 1910.
The warming in Australia is consistent with global trends, with the degree of warming similar to the overall average across the world’s land areas.
Rainfall
“Last year, the national average annual rainfall was 7.8 % above the 1961–1990 average at 502.2 mm,” Ms D’Argent said.
“Rainfall was below average for most of Tasmania, Victoria and South Australia, southern and inland areas of New South Wales and large parts of Western Australia.
“Rainfall was above average for much of Queensland, northern and eastern parts of the Northern Territory, coastal areas of New South Wales and northern and some southern areas of Western Australia.
“Queensland had its wettest year since 2011 with rainfall 31 % above average, while Tasmania had its driest year since 2017 and South Australia its driest since 2019.”
Water resources
“Annual average soil moisture was above the 1911–2025 average across some northern and eastern parts of the country, but below the annual average for large parts of southern Australia,” Ms D’Argent said.
“Most of the country's surface water storages decreased due to dry conditions and low inflows. However, surface water storage levels increased in northern New South Wales and the Menindee Lakes following above average rain in large parts of Queensland and coastal areas of New South Wales.
Annual Climate Statement 2025
The full Annual Climate Statement for 2025 will be released in early February. Preliminary state and territory data is available now on the Bureau's website.