AUSTRALIA: Aussies flung from summer fires to floods in breakneck climate whiplash – New Report

Australia: Surviving kangaroo after a bushfire – Image: Scott Fletcher/Unsplash

A new Climate Council report finds record global levels of coal, oil and gas pollution are overtaking natural climate drivers like El Niño and La Niña – accelerating the “climate whiplash” phenomenon in Australia that flings communities rapidly from one disaster to the next.

The independent, non-profit climate action organisation’s new report Breakneck Speed: Summer of Climate Whiplash warns that even a cooling La Niña couldn’t prevent record heat and catastrophic fires across Australia this past summer.

Bushfire in Australia – Image: Fachy Marin/Unsplash

Key Climate Whiplash Events (Dec 2025 – Feb 2026)

• Victoria – A week after catastrophic fire weather warnings, communities along the Great Ocean Road saw cars washed out to sea in flash floods, before extreme heat returned 10 days later.
• Western Australia – the Eyre Highway – Perth’s supply route to eastern states – closed due to fires in 45°C heat, only to be cut off again two days later by floodwaters.
• South Australia – Marree, near Kati Thanda-Lake Eyre, recorded five consecutive days above 48°C, including a new record high of 49.8°C in January. Just over a week later, a two-day rain event dumped 10 times the town’s normal February monthly rainfall, followed a fortnight later by eight consecutive days of rain that cut all roads into the town.
• Northern Territory – Alice Springs recorded more than 30 summer days above 40°C  (almost twice its average of 17), before intense rainfall triggered dangerous flash flooding on February 12.
• Tasmania – Strong winds fanned almost 30 bushfires on December 4, destroying 19 homes on the east coast, with Hobart recording its windiest summer day (98kmh). Three weeks later, daily snow fell between December 23 and 26.

Climate Councillor, meteorologist and climate expert, Adjunct Professor Andrew Watkins said: “Climate change is now firmly behind the steering wheel of Australia’s temperatures. In fact 2025 started and ended in La Niña – which usually cools large parts of Australia – yet this was our fourth hottest year, and the globe’s third hottest year, on record. That tells us the baseline has shifted.

“Our hotter oceans and atmosphere also mean more water evaporates into the sky than ever before. With more moisture in the atmosphere, storms produce more rain. Some towns in western Queensland recorded their average annual rainfall within the first five weeks of 2026. Then a tropical low in February resulted in flood watches across nearly half the continent. Inland areas that had sweltered through a week of temperatures over 45°C in January were then cut off by floodwaters and quagmire roads a month later.”

Flooding in Australia – Image: Grace Koo/Unsplash

Climate Councillor and former NSW fire commissioner Greg Mullins said: “We used to think of catastrophic fire conditions as once-in-a-generation events. Now they’re arriving every decade.

“The climate baseline has shifted, and that means bigger, more dangerous, destructive fires flaring up more quickly, more often. Stronger winds mean destructive fires can happen even on cooler days, like those in Tasmania which destroyed 19 homes.

“Accelerating extremes are stretching fire services, with Victorian firefighters called on to battle 200 fires in one day, ultimately resulting in the loss of 451 homes and more than 1,000 other buildings. We’re seeing communities hit by one disaster after the next, with little recovery time.”

Mr Mullins said Australians cannot afford any more coal and gas approvals, which effectively pour fuel on worsening fire seasons: “Disasters are costing Australians dearly. This report found insurance companies paid out $4.5 billion per year on average between 2019 and 2024, more than double the average annual costs over the previous 30 years. These costs will continue to balloon unless governments stop supporting coal, oil and gas pollution and speed up the shift to clean energy.“

NAN/CC 19-3-26

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