State sweats through hottest year on record

QUEENSLANDERS sweltered through our hottest ever year in 2017, our warmest ever winter, and temperatures from Brisbane to Birdsville that scorched holes in the record books.

Remarkably, the typical Queensland day peaked at 31.53C – the average daytime maximum temperature beating the previous record of 31.4C, set in 2013.

The state’s average temperature of 24.63C for the year was the hottest since records began, beating the previous record of 24.48C in 2005.

The Bureau of Meteorology’s Annual Climate Summary, released today, has highlighted the nation’s extreme weather events in the past 12 months.

Nationwide, the country sweated through its third warmest year on record, with an average of 21.8C.

Cyclone Debbie caused the strongest recorded wind gust in Queensland (263km/ h at Hamilton Island) and the wettest day of the year (635mm at Mount Jukes).