Australian Weather

09 Jun 2026, 2:56AM UTC

A warm week by winter standards is in store for the most populated corner of the country, with maximum temperatures trending around two to five degrees above the June average in the southeastern capitals, and most places in between. Why are temperatures so mild this week? A slow-moving high pressure system is centred over the Tasman Sea between Australia and New Zealand, and will be more or less parked there for the remainder of the working week. While a cold front is lashing the southwest of Western Australia this Tuesday, the Tasman high is forcing cold fronts down into the Great Australian Bight and further south, steering them away from southeastern Australia. Image: Synoptic chart for Tuesday, June 9, 2026. Source: Weatherzone. Burst of cool air for southwest Western Australia It's actually a bitterly cold winter morning in large parts of southern WA today. For example, the apparent or "feels like" temperature was just 1.7°C at 9 am (AWST) at Esperance Airport in the state's South East Coastal forecast district. Meanwhile Perth is heading for an expected high of just 17°C this Tuesday. Of the capitals, only Canberra (15°C) is forecast to be cooler. But even Canberra could hit the high teens later this week. Let’s switch from west to east and see what to expect in the southeastern capital cities this week. Adelaide The mercury should reach around 20°C in Adelaide this Tuesday. Maximums should then dip slightly into the high teens on Wednesday and Thursday before another warm surge brings a top as high as 23°C on Friday. Adelaide’s average June maximum is 15.8°C.  Melbourne It’s not often that Melbourne sees a 20-degree day in June. While there was one in both 2023 (20.1°C on June 5) and 2025 (20.4°C on June 2), you have to go all the way back to 2006 to find the previous one. But 20 degrees is on the cards for Friday after a run of unseasonably mild maximums in the high teens midweek – even though gusty winds at times will make things feel much cooler than the still-air temperature. Melbourne’s average June maximum is 14.1°C. Image: Daily forecast for Melbourne, Vic, on the Weatherzone app. Hobart Unlike Melbourne and Adelaide where the week’s temperature spike should occur on Friday, Wednesday looks like being Hobart’s warmest day, with a top of 18°C. The average June maximum is just 12.1°C, and no day this week is expected to peak lower than 15°C. Canberra After a string of frosty mornings over the long weekend (the lowest was -2.4°C on Monday morning), Canberra minimums won’t come close to freezing from Wednesday through the rest of the week. Maximums will range from around 15°C to 17°C all week. The average June maximum in the national capital is 13.2°C. Sydney Sydney had already hit 20.2°C by midday this Tuesday, and maximums should reach the low 20s all week. Sydney’s average June maximum is 17°C. And since we’ve mentioned six of Australia’s eight capital cities so far, we shouldn’t forget Brisbane and Darwin, both of which can expect maximum temperatures only a degree or so above the monthly average for June all week.

08 Jun 2026, 9:51PM UTC

Australia’s seasonal bushfire outlook for winter 2026 has been released by the Australian and New Zealand National Council for fire and emergency services (AFAC) and it predicts increased fire risk across the northern parts of Western Australia and a large area of central and northern New South Wales. Image: Winter 2026 seasonal bushfire outlook. Source: AFAC While winter is typically a quiet time for bushfires in the southern half of Australia, the middle of the year is peak season for fires in the country’s north. Fire risk typically shifts to northern Australia during the cooler months of the year as the region enters its dry season. This year however, the above-average risk extends further south than usual, reaching around 1,500 kilometres south of the traditional northern fire zone into the mid-latitudes of NSW. Increased fire risk in NSW this winter The northeast inland of NSW has seen some welcome rain in recent weeks. One weather system in late May delivered between 50 and 100 mm of rain to some areas in the space of a week, with some places recording more than 100 mm. This heavy rain caused road closures and left the ground visibly saturated. Image: Weekly rainfall map, week ending 1 June 2026, Source: Bureau of Meteorology. While the recent rainfall increased soil moisture, slowed the curing of fine fuels and will likely dampen fire risk for the next month or so, it was not enough to replace the long-term rainfall deficiencies that have been building across the region in recent months. Across the five months to May 2026, parts of the Northern Tablelands and Northwest Slopes and Plains districts recorded rainfall in lowest 10% of historical records. This is a rainfall deficit that will take more than one or two decent weather systems to undo. Image: Five-month rainfall deficiencies between January 1 and May 31, 2026. Source: Bureau of Meteorology. Looking ahead, the outlook offers little relief. Warmer and drier-than-average conditions are forecast across much of eastern Australia through winter, with climate drivers shifting toward El Niño, which historically has amplified fire risk across much of Australia. Above-average wet season rain fuels WA fire risk On the other side of the continent, above-average wet season rainfall across the Kimberley and northern parts of the Great Sandy Desert has produced elevated bushfire fuel loads across the region. As the dry season progresses and conditions dry out, that fuel will cure rapidly, creating an increasingly elevated fire risk. Image: Rainfall deciles between October 1, 2025, and April 30, 2026. Source: Bureau of Meteorology. For parts of the Pilbara, Ex-Tropical Cyclones Mitchell and Narelle brought above-average wet season rain, but the region's sparse and discontinuous vegetation limits the fire risk compared to the Kimberley. While AFAC has assessed the region as carrying an average fire risk, dry, warm and windy conditions will still pose a significant threat.