Overview
- The Climate Council’s new report documents rapid swings this summer, including Great Ocean Road fire evacuations followed within a week by flash flooding that swept cars to sea, and Western Australia’s Eyre Highway being shut by fires then cut by floods two days later.
- Insurers paid an average $4.5 billion per year from 2019 to 2024, more than double the previous 30‑year average, while households report premium rises of about $700, roughly 50 percent, in recent years.
- Despite La Niña at the start and end of 2025, Australia logged its fourth‑hottest year on record, which Climate Council meteorologist Andrew Watkins says shows the climate baseline has shifted warmer.
- Emergency services were stretched, with about 200 Victorian fires in a single day contributing to the loss of 451 homes and more than 1,000 other buildings, as officials warn communities are being hit repeatedly with little recovery time.
- Scientists say traditional El Niño–La Niña signals are proving less reliable, the official long‑range outlook calls for warmer‑than‑average days and nights with below‑average rainfall over the next three months, and the Pacific “reset” in March–April will indicate whether El Niño develops.