A balmy start to spring is on the cards, with the Bureau of Meteorology forecasting warmer-than-average temperatures for most parts of Australia during the rest of winter and into September.
Daytime and evening temperatures will be higher than usual, particularly in the southwest and southeastern parts of the country, the bureau's latest climate outlook says.
However the bureau has downgraded the chances of an El Nino developing this year.
BOM's senior hydrologist Paul Feikema said June had been one of the warmest on record for Australia thanks to a high pressure system dominating much of the southern hemisphere and pushing cold fronts further south.
"Outlooks suggest dry and and warm conditions are likely to extend into early spring," he said on Thursday.
"El Nino is very unlikely for this year but rainfall is likely to be below average for parts of southern Australia."
The bureau in March had said there was a 50 per cent chance of an El Nino forming by July following changes in the Pacific Ocean and the atmosphere.
However the chances have since dropped, partly because of a cooling in the waters of the Pacific Ocean off Peru during May and June.
El Nino is associated with below average winter-spring rainfall over eastern Australia and warmer than average winter-spring maximum temperatures in southern states.
The El Nino that spread from 2015 into 2016 was one of the three strongest on record, with temperatures nearly 1C above average.
