Sydney, Aug 30 (IANS): Australia's Bureau of Meteorology (BoM) has forecast above-average spring temperatures across the country following an unseasonably warm winter.

The BoM on Thursday night released its long-range forecast for the next three months, showing an increased likelihood of warmer-than-average temperatures in every state and territory through spring, Xinhua news agency reported.

It said that most of the states of Queensland and New South Wales as well as the Australian Capital Territory are likely to have above-average spring rainfall while parts of South Australia and the island state of Tasmania can expect slightly more rain than usual.

The wet season in northern Australia does not officially begin until October but the BoM said that the first significant rains are likely to occur earlier than usual in Queensland and the Northern Territory and later in Western Australia.

According to preliminary BoM data, the national mean winter temperature has been 1.5 degrees Celsius above the 1961-1990 winter average.

"Despite some typically cool winter temperatures at times on the east coast, winter has been warmer than usual across the country with August on track to be Australia's warmest August on record," the bureau said in a statement.

Australia's highest-ever winter temperature of 41.6 degrees Celsius was set at Yampi Sound in remote northern Western Australia on Aug. 26, beating the previous national record of 41.2 degrees Celsius set at West Roebuck, also in northern Western Australia, in 2020.

Sydney recorded a maximum temperature of 28.1 degrees Celsius on Wednesday, the city's hottest August day in seven years.