Santa looks set to bring Melburnians a mild and mostly sunny Christmas Day.

Canberra hasn't seen any heatwaves this summer, but that doesn't mean it hasn't been a hot one.

The impacts of the monster El Nino in the Pacific are likely to intensify across much of Australia, including worsening drought and an elevated bushfire threat, after conditions that were nullifying its effects suddenly retreated.

NSW will likely cop its third buffeting from an east coast low in five weeks but there is some good news.

The state's second east coast low in as many weeks is likely to bring further heavy rains to north-eastern NSW but largely skirt flood-hit areas around Sydney and the Hunter Valley, meteorologists say.

Broken Hill's water reserves are down to about 4 per cent amid forecasts the town will be without water by the end of the year.

The Bureau of Meteorology has warned of possible flash flooding in the Queanbeyan and Molonglo rivers on Friday.

While the dry,calm, and mostly sunny days are making it seem that summer will never end, its demise is in sight.

Brisbane is in for a wet start to the week, with storms likely to hit the city on Monday and rain predicted for the following four days.

A Kiama drone operator has told of his urgent efforts to raise the alarm after a shark made an unexpected appearance in his video, coming disturbingly close to unaware surfers.

Destruction of more than 200,000 hectares of threatened species habitat has been approved by the federal government in the past decade, a report shows.

Thunderstorms have rumbled their way across Sydney for the ninth consecutive day, with more thunder and lightning on the horizon throughout Monday morning and into the afternoon.

Sydney may be scorching right now, but be warned - the worst is yet to come.

The remarkable global heat for 2015 is not yet over and already forecasters are predicting next year will be hotter again - marking three years in a row of record annual warmth.

In a town regarded as one of the world's hottest, Marble Bar locals are still reminded to take care as the mercury hit 48 degrees Celsius on Monday.

Prepare for hotter days and a worsening drought - a ''substantial'' El Nino event is underway.

Sydney will likely come close to notching its hottest day this late in the summer for 12 years - and there won't be much early relief.

It's Big Wednesday in Sydney, where large and powerful waves are pounding the coastline and giving surfers a reason to grin.

The trough that brought a series of storms to Canberra on Saturday is expected to affect the region until Monday.

Enjoy the sunshine at the start of this week, as the the grey clouds and rain that have become all-too-familiar visitors in recent times are due to roll in again come Wednesday.