Canberra sweltered through third-warmest year in 2014

The city sweated through 19 days of temperatures reaching at least 35 degrees - nearly four times the average of five days - and three days when temperatures climbed to 40 degrees or more.

The territory was hit by three heatwaves last year - in January, February, and one that lasted nearly two weeks in May.

Last year was Canberra's fifth-warmest on record and third-hottest for average maximum temperatures, the Bureau of Meteorology's annual climate summary, released on Tuesday, showed.

It was 1.8 degrees hotter than the historical average in Canberra last year, when maximum temperatures averaged 21.5 degrees.

The territory also shivered through its coldest August for minimum temperatures in 20 years. Last year's average minimum temperature was 6.7 degrees, 0.2 degrees above the average.

The coldest night was on August 5, when the mercury dipped to a chilly minus 7.6 degrees.

Gary Allan, a climatologist with the Bureau of Meteorology's climate information services, said Canberra experienced a range of extremes in 2014.

"We've been very close to El Nino thresholds for six months or more and El Nino conditions for Australia is generally associated with well-below-average rainfall, particularly for south-eastern Australia, and generally warmer than average conditions," he said.

The first half of last year was the wettest part of 2014 for the ACT and particularly heavy rain caused widespread flooding on February 19 and 20. The second half of the year was drier, because of persistent high-pressure systems and a lack of big rainstorms.

Canberra received 569 millimetres of rain last year, which was slightly less than the average of 614 millimetres.

Total rainfall between July and November was 44 per cent below average, making it the eighth-driest five-month period on record.

Mr Allan said the drier than normal conditions in Canberra were likely to persist this year, well into the autumn and winter.

"The odds of wetter-than-normal conditions for the coming year are quite low. It would be most surprising if we were to see a dramatic turnaround in the dry conditions that we've been observing now for the best part of the last six to eight months," he said.

Last year was also the third-warmest on record for the rest of Australia, with the country sweating through frequent heatwaves and warm spells.

Spring 2014 was the warmest on record for Australia.

Dr Sophie Lewis, a climate scientist at the Research School of Earth Science at the Australian National University in Canberra, said many Australian heat records were broken again last year.

"Recent research has tied these recent heat extremes to global warming," she said.

"We had our hottest spring on record in 2013 and again in 2014, and these extremes were at least 30 times more likely because of human influences, such as greenhouse gases."

Canberra looks set for more showers and thunderstorms for the rest of the week. There is a high chance of showers every day until Saturday, and temperatures are expected to reach at least 30 degrees most days. Temperatures are forecast to reach a top of 25 degrees on Saturday.