Mild, hot, wet and windy: Christmas weather a mixed bag

Forecast rain is dampening the risk of bushfires on Christmas Day for most capital cities, but parts of the nation will be on heatwave alert.

Australia has already been experiencing a “reasonably active” bushfire season, Natural Hazards Research Australia chief executive Andrew Gissing said.

“In NSW we had about 16 homes lost recently, a similar number at Dolphin Sands in Tasmania and there’s been a few lost in WA as well, and tragically, we’ve lost firefighters as well,” he said.

There would be heatwave conditions and extreme fire danger in parts of WA over Christmas, particularly around the southwest, he said.

“WA folks are facing extreme heat … the strength of the winds and the relatively low humidity is taken into account when calculating those fire danger ratings.

“WA has also been experiencing this longer term drying trend, which has been escalating … and when you have bushfire and extreme heat, you’ve also got the associated health risks of the bushfire smoke.”

Canberra (27C) and Adelaide (25C) are the only capitals expecting a fine and relatively mild Christmas Day, while Sydney, Melbourne, Brisbane, and Hobart are expecting showers, and Darwin could get a 50mm tropical downpour.

Sydney can expect a top of 23C, Melbourne a chilly and windy 17C and Brisbane a balmy 34C.

Perth will have a scorcher on Christmas Day with 41C forecast ahead of a milder 27C on Boxing Day.

“Other than bushfires, you’ve also got widespread heavy rainfall across northern Australia, which will lead to potential flooding,” Mr Gissing said.

“And you’ve also got this category two cyclone that’s firmed up in the Indian Ocean, which might impact the Cocos Islands on Christmas Eve and Christmas Day as well.”