Hasn't been like a winter month at all here, majority of days have been over 20c and a few weeks back we reached a number of days with 26c!

http://www.weatherzone.com.au/news/dry-july-for-sydneysiders-/25068

http://www.canberratimes.com.au/environment/weather/melbourne-having-sydneys-winter-20130725-2qm4r.html

It looks like it is going to be the hottest July on record in Sydney (data going back 150 years) and the driest for 11 years. The warmth has been very noteworthy though, there have been some very mild July's here in my memory but nothing as sustained as this. Usually you will get a mild spell in July but a cold front will sweep up from the south and clear it away for a few weeks. The cold fronts have been failing to push this far north, for some reason they are not as strong as they should be and just slide away. Usually I get to take my son up the Blue Mountains to see some snow but not this year, they are running well above average up there also, he has been swimming down the beach instead!

My lawn is looking very dry at the moment which it really shouldn't do at this time of the year! A but of rain will soon pick it up but there is no substantial rain in the forecast.

But just as February or even March can be the coldest months in the UK so can August / September here. Some of the best snow events for the snowies can even be in October so plenty of time for a cool down yet.

On track for the warmest winter on record here though and I think we might just do it.

That really is amazing. In the late 1980s as I've mentioned before I was living at the opposite end of Australia - Perth. Obviously I used to watch the weather forecasts on a regular basis and my recollection of things was that in the case of Sydney, and Perth as well for that matter - a day in July wherby the temp got to 20C or 21C or over was in fact quite rare. A typical winters day in Perth was a temp of 15C to 17C. A cooler sort of day would be 13C to 15C.

And yet that is how good it can get in the summer months for aorund here!   

(Sorry, couldn't resist that - I bet you're half expecting me to come up with that one).

Indeed 

It has been a very enjoyable month, great to get out and do things. But nature is suffering, some confused looking plants / trees, especially the European trees, they don't know what time of the year it is!

And we could really do with some good rain. You start getting twitchy about the bushfire season if it stays dry for too long.

These stats from this year kind of tell the story, all of these have been recorded!

• Australia’s hottest day on record


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  Australia’s hottest week on record

  
  


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  Australia’s hottest month on record

  
  


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  Australia’s hottest summer on record

  
  


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  Australia’s hottest September to June (10 months) on record

  
  


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  http://www.sbs.com.au/news/article/1794060/Comment-2013-shaping-up-to-be-one-of-the-hottest-y

  
  


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  And the hottest July on record is about to be added to that list!

  
  

Well, thats what it was like Ian - many winter days in Perth were as good as some summer days here quite often.

I don't think I have ever got used to the weather back here in this country. I suppose I have got used to it - but I hate it all the more.

Some serious heat records around at the moment.

Australia smashing its July records and now China is doing the same - http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-asia-china-23499175