Australia endured its hottest, driest year on record in 2019

January 9, 2020

Meanwhile criticism of Prime Minister Scott Morrison’s handling of the disaster continues.

Last year was the hottest and driest year on record for Australia, according to its 2019 Annual Climate Statement.

The report by the Bureau of Meteorology was released this morning.

It found the country's average mean temperature last year was 1.52C above average, becoming the warmest since consistent records began in 1910.

And it was also the driest year on record for Australia with the national average rainfall at just 277mm - 40 per cent below average.

Dr Karl Braganza, head of climate monitoring at the Bureau of Meterology, says it's one of the key factors influencing the bushfires currrently ripping through the country.

"January last year was the warmest month Australia has ever recorded, while just a few weeks ago in December, we saw the Australia-wide record hottest daily average maximum temperature broken multiple days in a row," he told media.

"At the same time, rainfall deficiencies across large parts of eastern Australia have continued to increase, unfortunately exacerbating both drought conditions and the current bushfires."

The vast majority of those died in New South Wales.

Dr Braganza says with Australia's climate warming, it makes very warm years like 2019 "now more likely to occur".

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