A broad and unpredictable trough stretching across south-east Australia could inundate Canberra with a month's worth of rain this weekend.

Temperatures are set to climb towards 40 degrees in coming days in Sydney's west with only cooling sea breezes likely to cap the mercury in the city.

Hume Coal’s mine and rail project applications have been referred back to the Independent Planning Commission for a public hearing and determination within 12 weeks.

The elderly are heading up north, and we have only their Instagram posts to warm us.

A car reportedly crashed into a fallen tree on Streeton Drive. 

Winter's grip will finally feel like it's loosened amid a "heat spike" this weekend - even if that season's squeeze was not a very tight one.

Slow-moving Typhoon Hagupit has weakened as it churns across the central Philippines islands, easing fears of widespread mass destruction, but officials warn the storm could still bring severe flooding to the low-lying capital Manila.

"Mate, I lost about 100 heartbeats I reckon in that split second, and got a few more grey hairs."

Hundreds of homes have been evacuated in southern California as heavy rains and wind lash the drought-stricken area.

Fires breached containment lines in two NSW locations on Sunday morning as temperatures climbed above 35 degrees in parts of the state and Sydney.

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.

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 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.

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

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.

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

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.

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