Australia is on track to record its hottest winter and forecasters are predicting spring to tip the mercury well above average.
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Official records of the final two days of winter are yet to be formalised, but the season is tracking to be 1.54C above the 1961-1990 average.
That would break the previous record for warmest winter, set in 1996, of 1.46C above average for that period, according to the Bureau of Meteorology (BoM).
Meteorologists warn spring is likely to be much hotter and drier than usual.
BoM climate services manager Karl Braganza said spring was likely to have unusually warm days for most of the country, particularly Western Australia and parts of the south-east.
Noting that last year Australia had its second-wettest spring on record, Dr Braganza warned of a significant contrast in climatic conditions this year.
The first significant rains of this year's northern Australian wet season, which officially begins in October, are likely to be later than usual, according to BoM.
BoM senior climatologist Catherine Ganter explained with an El Nino weather event expected, the addition of a positive Indian Ocean Dipole could mean even drier conditions compared to either event by themselves.
"This increases our chances of below average rainfall for much of south-eastern and central Australia," she said.
With the south-west and parts of the east likely to experience drier than usual conditions comes an increased risk of bushfires.
"The recent wildfires in Canada and Hawaii underscore risks that Australians are familiar with, in particular the catastrophic potential of fires that can occur near urban areas during periods of low rainfall," Dr Braganza said.
BoM senior hydrologist Masoud Edraki said the global climate system was looking very unusual, but it was unclear how much of a role global warming would play.
"Record high warm sea surface temperatures in all of the global oceans are likely to continue to impact the weather we experience for many months," he said.
"We don't know yet how global warming, and particularly the increased warmth in the oceans, is affecting our typical climate drivers.
"We'll continue to monitor this closely and how it is likely to affect Australia's climate forecast."
Australian Associated Press
