Australia just experienced its wettest summer in nearly a decade – and the eighth-hottest on record

Flood water from the Fitzroy River inundates parts of Rockhampton, Queensland. February rainfall was higher than average across all states and territories apart from Tasmania, the BoM reported. Photograph: Sylvia Liber/AAP

This summer ricocheted from extremely hot to intensely wet across parts of the country, according to the Bureau of Meteorology, with South Australia experiencing some of the season’s most acute swings.

Nationwide, the 2025-26 season was the wettest in nearly a decade, with rainfall 32% higher than average across the country, according to the bureau’s summary, the rainiest since 2016-17.