Nation bakes in hottest year

17 December 2005The Sunday MailLeigh Dayton

Australians have sweltered through the hottest year on record, as the global temperature continues a warming trend begun in the 19th century.According to the World Meteorological Organisation's statement on the status of the global climate - released yesterday in Geneva, Switzerland - about 97 per cent of Australia experienced above average temperatures this year.

In April, temperatures across the continent were 2.6C above average.

"It was as if summer didn't stop," said climatologist Michael Coughlan of the Bureau of Meteorology's National Climate Centre in Melbourne. "It was not until we got into June that things turned around and we got some good rain across central Australia."

Planet-wide, June and October were the hottest months ever recorded.