If you thought it was mild in recent months in Victoria, you’re spot on, with Australia’s smallest mainland state officially registering its warmest autumn on record.

Average temperatures across Victoria were 1.90°C above average throughout autumn 2025, which narrowly exceeded the old record set in 2016.

Image: Temperature anomalies in Victoria from 1910 to 2025. Source: BoM.

Australia as a whole was 1.41°C above average in autumn 2025, which made it our 4th-warmest autumn since national records were first kept in 1910.

No part of the country bucked the trend, with every state and territory significantly warmer than the long-term average, as shown in the map below of autumn 2025 temperature deciles.

Image: Mean temperature deciles for Australia in autumn 2025. Source: BoM.

There are four patterns on the chart above worth noting:

1. The first is the fact that no part of Australia saw below-average temperatures in autumn 2025, which points strongly to the underlying influence of the warming climate

2. The second point of interest is the white patches in outback Australia. Mostly, these are areas that experienced unusually heavy rainfall at times in autumn. Cloud and rain tend to make cooler weather, yet even a prolonged period of well below-average temperatures didn’t push these areas below the seasonal average.

3. Thirdly, and on a similar note to the second point, NSW temperatures were above average overall despite heavy rainfall and flooding in some areas in autumn. Indeed, NSW saw a temperature anomaly of 1.94°C, which was slightly higher than Victoria’s record figure of 1.90°C, but not quite a NSW record (it was the 2nd-warmest autumn on record).

4. But the main trend worth noting is just how warm it was in Victoria and parts of SA and southern NSW. This was largely due to the predominantly positive Southern Annular Mode (SAM) and the associated absence of rain-bearing frontal systems.

READ MORE: What is the SAM and how does it affect Australia? 

Image: Australian Rainfall deciles for autumn 2025. Source: BoM.

As the map above shows, large parts of southern Australia experienced relentlessly dry conditions in autumn 2025, with Victoria registering its 9th-driest autumn on record overall, and Tasmania its 3rd-driest.

In a pleasing sign for residents of southern Australia's drought-stricken regions, the SAM is starting to trend towards negative territory (after trending positive for almost all of autumn 2025) which means an increased likelihood of rainfall.