Experts warned El Niño was likely to bring Australia a hot, dry summer. What happened?

NSW Rural Fire Service firefighter attempts to extinguish a bush fire in Newcastle, NSW, in December. September and October were particularly dry months for Australia. Photograph: Roni Bintang/Getty Images

The famed and feared El Niño climate system is often linked to hotter and drier springs and summers for Australia, but the torrential and damaging storms and floods on the east coast in recent weeks have been anything but dry.

So what’s happened to the El Niño that experts warned earlier could mean warmer and drier weather and increased bushfire risk for much of the country?