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Australia faces hot, dry summer

Drought conditions are likely to persist into summer in eastern Australia, with hotter and drier conditions predicted across much of the continent.

The Bureau of Meteorology's latest climate and water outlook shows more than half of the country has a less than 40 per cent chance of achieving above average rainfall between November and January.

This includes Queensland, the Northern Territory and NSW, the Kimberley region in Western Australia, eastern South Australia and Victoria's coastal fringe.

In drought-ravaged Queensland, virtually the whole state has only a 20 to 35 per cent chance of above average rain.

Northwestern NSW, southern NSW and northern and western Victoria, which all have serious rainfall deficiencies, will remain dry.

But Tasmania, most of WA and coastal areas of SA and Victoria can expect near-average rain.

Hot weather is expected over all of Australia except a band from WA's Goldfields to the Pilbara and the northern Cape York Peninsula.

There is at least a 60 per cent chance maximum temperatures will exceed the November to January average, with an 80 per cent chance in central Queensland, parts of the Top End, far southwest WA, southern and eastern Tasmania, and eastern Victoria.

Bureau of Meteorology climate prediction services manager Andrew Watkins says the analysis is bad news for farmers and increases the fire risk in the east.

"For eastern and northern Australia, particularly for those drought areas, the odds favour drier than average conditions," Dr Watkins said on Thursday.

"There are very strong odds of getting above normal temperatures as well through those inland parts of Queensland, where we have already seen those heatwave conditions."

Cooler sea surface temperatures around northern Australia and very warm central Pacific Ocean waters approaching conditions typical of an El Nino have influenced the warm, dry trend, Dr Watkins says.

"We're expecting we will exceed that (typical El Nino conditions) in the next month," he said.

"With the hot and dry forecast the fire danger remains relatively high in southeastern Australia, right up to Brisbane and in the southwest of WA.

"And inland, people rely upon the breakdown of tropical cyclones for big rain events."