Australia has experienced its hottest summer on record, according to the nation’s Bureau of Meteorology.
Hundreds of individual heat records were shattered across the country over the past three months.
The warm weather – 2.14C above the long-term average – caused bushfires, blackouts and a rise in hospital admissions.
Wildlife also suffered, with reports of mass deaths of wild horses, native bats and fish.
“The real standout was just how widespread and prolonged each heatwave was – almost everywhere was affected,” climatologist Blair Trewin told the BBC.
Temperatures had exceeded the previous hottest summer in 2012-13 by nearly 1C, he added – “a very large margin for a national record”.
Australia experienced at least five of its warmest days on record in January – the nation’s hottest month ever.
Every state and territory was affected, but South Australia, Victoria and New South Wales bore the brunt of the extreme temperatures.
Among other impacts:
- In Tasmania, fire crews battled dozens of bushfires in World Heritage-listed forests
- Soaring air conditioner use prompted widespread power outages across Melbourne
- More than 90 wild horses were found dead or dying in a dried-up waterhole in the Northern Territory.
