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Australians felt the force of high temperatures, drought, intense rain and giant hail during a year of weather extremes in 2020.
It was the fourth-warmest year on record and wetter than average as the hot and dry start was countered by a La Niña weather pattern declared in September, the Bureau of Meteorology's annual climate statement says.
Temperatures were 1.15 degrees above average and followed Australia's hottest and driest year on record in 2019.
"We know how 2020 started off with those extreme bushfires, with that extreme drought and heat, and we did see some relief from that in those earlier months," senior climatologist Lynette Bettio said.