Climate report shows 2016 was Australia's 4th-hottest year on record

Australia experienced its fourth-hottest year on record in 2016 despite also having above average rainfall, the nation's Bureau of Meteorology (BoM) has said.

The BoM released its Annual Climate Statement 2016 on Thursday, which showed the national mean temperature was 0.87 degrees Celsius above average - resulting in the nation's fourth-warmest year on record.

The bureau's assistant director for climate information services, Neil Plummer, said 2016 was one of the most eventful years in terms of weather that Australia had ever experienced.

He said bushfires earlier in the year came about after a prolonged hot spell, while the end of the El Nino weather event later in 2016 brought with it flooding rains for some states.

"The year started off very warm and dry, with bushfires in Victoria, Tasmania and Western Australia, and a nation-wide heatwave from late February to mid-March. We had our warmest autumn on record partly due to a very strong 2015-16 El Nino," Plummer said in the BoM statement on Thursday.

"In May the El Nino broke down and the dry start was followed by record wet from May to September as a negative Indian Ocean Dipole developed, with ocean waters warming to the northwest of Australia."

Overall, Plummer said, despite 2016 being one of the warmest years in Australia's history, annual rainfall was 17 percent above average.

"Widespread, drought-breaking rains led to flooding in multiple states. Even northern Australia saw widespread rainfall, during what is usually the dry season, greening regions that had been in drought for several years," he said.

In addition to the BoM's announcement, the World Meteorological Organization has announced that 2016 would likely be the warmest year on record for global mean temperatures. Endit