Australia's hottest Christmas Day occurred in 1997, when Gascoyne Junction, Western Australia, recorded a scorching 48.3°C, making it the highest temperature ever in the country on December 25th. While other places like Marble Bar also saw extreme heat (48.0°C in 2018), Gascoyne Junction holds the national Christmas Day record.
ummary — Christmas Day 2025 was by far the warmest Christmas Day for the contiguous United States on record. He calculated the average national high temperature (shown above) as 57.9F and the average national low temperature as 36.6F.
According to BoM data, drawn from observation sites across the country, towns in Western Australia and South Australia share the national heat record, with temperatures of 50.7 °C recorded at Oodnadatta in 1960 and Onslow in 2022.
A large high-pressure system parked itself over the Tasman Sea at the same time as there was an intense tropical low and a cyclone spinning off the north-west coast of Western Australia. Together, they funnelled hot tropical air through to the country's south-east.
However, the natural variability of the weather will not stop cold, snowy winters happening in the future. In fact, in terms of widespread sleet/snow falling across the UK on Christmas Day, between 1971 and 1992 there was only one year (1980), whereas in the years 1993 to 2004 there were six such occasions.
Southern Hemisphere
In 2006, a snowstorm hit the Snowy Mountains in New South Wales and Victoria, Australia, arriving on Christmas morning and bringing nearly 12 in (30 cm) of snow in higher areas. In New Zealand's Southern Alps, snow can fall any day of the year, and a white Christmas is possible.
Historical heatwaves
The most catastrophic heatwave, which was responsible for the death of 435 people, occurred between 1895 and 1896 and covered most of the country. In 2009, 432 people lost their lives during a heatwave in Victoria and South Australia.
The mobile-friendly MyClimate 2050 tool shows almost all areas across Australia will experience longer and hotter summers, with temperatures increasing by an average of 2.32°C.
Heatwaves have been described as a “silent killer” because they do not leave the same large-scale visible scars as bushfires and floods – but extreme heat is the most common cause of weather-related hospitalisations and deaths in Australia.
Australia Heatwave update: Western Australia reaches nearly 50 degrees as record-breaking heatwave continues.
A heat burst is claimed to have sent the air temperature to near 140 °F (60 °C), supposedly causing cotton crops to become desiccated and drying out vegetation. While it is possible the reading may have exceeded 100 °F (38 °C), the thermometers designed to detect temperatures up to 140 °F (60 °C) broke.
1976 was both sunnier and drier overall than 2025, factors that helped contribute to the record high maximum from the heatwaves that occurred that summer. But 2025 had persistent warmth day and night through the summer with few notable cooler spells.
Christmas 1983 Blizzard and Record Cold. Christmas of 1983 was the coldest Christmas ever with blizzard conditions across northeast Ohio and northwest Pennsylvania. The combination of the arctic cold temperatures and the wide open Great Lakes set the stage for the development of a Lake Effect blizzard.
The winter of 1963 - the coldest for more than 200 years
With temperatures so cold the sea froze in places, 1963 is one of the coldest winters on record. Bringing blizzards, snow drifts, blocks of ice, and temperatures lower than -20 °C, it was colder than the winter of 1947, and the coldest since 1740.
Recent research found much of northern Australia could experience unliveable conditions if global temperatures increased by about 3C, which could become a reality within 40 years, Dr Howey told the conference. Such extreme conditions were found in 0.8 per cent of the planet, mostly in the Sahara Desert.
The global mean near-surface temperature from January to August 2025 was therefore lower than 2024 – at 1.42 °C ± 0.12 °C above the pre-industrial average, compared to about 1.55 °C ± 0.13 °C for the year 2024.
Australia experienced its fourth-warmest year on record in 2025, with average temperatures up 1.23C nationally, according to the BoM. The climate crisis has increased the frequency and severity of extreme weather events, including heatwaves and bushfires.
Australia has officially recorded the hottest temperatures in the world as sweltering humidity grips the nation. Marble Bar in Western Australia's Pilbara region was the hottest place on Earth on Tuesday, recording a sweltering temperature of 46.4C, according to Ogimet.
MORTALITY IN ENGLAND
In South East England the number of deaths increased from 1780 in the week ending 25 June to 2286 in the week ending 2 July, an increase of 28 per cent. Even the following week's total of 2167 deaths was not exceeded until the winter, during the week ending 10 December.
Except for NW. England, where sunshine amounts were slightly above average, all areas recorded below average sunshine; it was very dull in southern and eastern England. July was a rather cold month generally, but a very warm spell early in the month ensured monthly mean temperatures close to average in most places.
Kylie Minogue has scored this year's Christmas number one, deposing Wham!'s Last Christmas, which topped the chart in 2023 and 2024. The pop star achieved the feat with her single XMAS, an irrepressibly jaunty anthem about "the presents underneath the tree" and kissing someone special "out in the snow".
33 YEARS AGO ON THIS DAY in 1984, "Do They Know It's Christmas? " by Band Aid entered the UK chart at No. 1 and stayed at the top for five weeks. It became the biggest selling UK single of all time with sales over 3 and a half million.