The hottest year, the hottest spring and summer, the hottest January and September, the hottest summer day and the warmest winter day: 2013 was a record-setting year in weather.
The Bureau of Meteorology's annual climate statement shows 2013 was Australia's hottest year since records began in 1910. It says the national mean temperature was 1.20 degrees celsius above the 1961-1990 average.
"Long periods of warmer-than-average days have been common, with a distinct lack of cold weather," the statement says.
The year was also the hottest on record for South Australia, Western Australia and the Northern Territory.
It was the second-hottest year on record for New South Wales and Queensland, third for Victoria and fourth for Tasmania.
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The bureau says Australia has experienced just one cooler-than-average year in the past decade: 2011. Nationally averaged rainfall was slightly below average for the year, with 428mm.
Australia's 2013 annual mean temperatures (BOM)
