Australianseasons are the antithesis of those in Europe and North America(because Australia is south of the Equator): summer starts inDecember (ends in February), autumn inMarch (ends in May), winter in June (ends in August) and springin September (ends in November).

Seasonalvariations are not extreme and its rare for temperatures to dropbelow zero on the mainland except in the mountains.

The countryoccupies the whole continent, so the climate is different indifferent regions of the country.

Darwin, in thefar north, is in the monsoon belt, where there are just twoseasons: hot and wet, and hot and dry.

The southernstates are popular during the summer months, but the best timeto visit is probably the seasons of spring or autumn when theweather in the south is mild. Spring in the outback can bespectacular if rains encourage wildflowers.
Average annual temperatures vary from about 27 °C in the northof the continent to 13 °C in the south. Floods and cyclones arerather common along the coast of the continent.

Summer(December-February) can get uncomfortably hot just aboutanywhere, except Tasmania. If you're in the southern statesduring these months its great beach weather. Up north, this isthe wet season, when it's very, very humid and when the seaabounds with box jellyfish.

From June untilAugust things have cooled down a little and dried up a lot upnorth. This is a good time to visit Queensland or the outback.If you're here for the skiing, now's the time to head for thesnowfields of Victoria and New South Wales. Overall, spring andautumn are probably the safest bets — the weather is reasonablymild wherever you are, and spring brings out the wild-flowers inthe outback, while autumn is particularly beautiful in Canberraand in the Victorian Alps.

Between the aridinterior and the well-watered coasts lies a wide belt withaverage annual precipitation of about 760 mm.