Explainer: Australia wet and warm in 2016

Australia recorded its fourth-warmest year on record during a wetter-than-average 2016.

Cars and trams drive through floodwaters in the suburb of Prahran in Melbourne, Thursday, Dec. 29, 2016. Source: AAP

Australia's 2016 weather by the numbers:

• Australia's national mean temperature was 0.87C above average - its fourth-warmest year on record
• Annual rainfall was 17 per cent above average
• Sea surface temperatures around Australia were the warmest on record in 2016 and were 0.77C above average
• The World Meteorological Organisation has announced 2016 is very likely to have been the warmest year on record for global mean temperatures

Source: Australian Bureau of Meteorology's Annual Climate Statement 2016