Summer has arrived along with its regular companions.
Experts are warning of heightened bushfire risks, swimmers are being urged to take care at the beach, and even backyard gardeners aren't safe with snakes on the move.
In NSW, weather experts are tipping it will be wetter in the north and hotter in the south, with a higher bushfire risk than last year.
The Bureau of Meteorology has forecast a wetter than average summer for northern NSW, which is bad news for flood-affected towns near the Queensland border but good news for drought-hit farmers.
But with increased rainfall, temperatures will ease in the north.
However, closer to the Victorian border the mercury is likely to soar.
"As you move towards the southwest, the chances of above-average temperatures go up quite dramatically and we get a 65 per cent chance of above-average temperatures in the border areas with Victoria," climatologist Perry Wiles said.
The NSW Rural Fire Service (RFS) has predicted a bad bushfire season, particularly in the south of the state, following a relatively quiet season last summer.
Much of NSW remains drought-declared, worrying firefighters, RFS Assistant Commissioner Rob Rogers said.
Victorian authorities said they were also bracing for a potentially deadly fire season.
In Queensland, surf lifesavers are warning water and alcohol only mix if they're in the same glass.
Gold Coast lifesaving co-ordinator Stuart Hogben warned against the dangers of swimming outside the flags and mixing alcohol with a dip in the ocean.
He said about one in eight coastal drownings was due to drugs or alcohol.
In South Australia, 11 people drowned on the state's beaches last summer.
This season, Surf Life Saving SA will run programs to target high-risk groups, including rural Australians and migrants who accounted for 25 per cent of drownings last summer.
Many surf clubs also will provide two patrolled swimming areas at each beach and extended hours of operation.
The warmer weather and scarcity of water is tipped to force snakes further afield to find food.
"They will move into residential areas - that's how it works," says Victorian snake catcher John Birkett.
He said snakes would follow their food source, such as frogs and rodents, who are looking for water.
The boom in keeping backyard chickens is also another attraction for snakes.
But the reptiles are not so much after the feathered fowls or their eggs, but the rodents that scavenge for scraps and chicken feed.
In Western Australia, a prediction of average summer heat was welcome news after the state experienced what the Bureau of Meteorology said was one of the coldest, wettest Novembers on record.
Forecaster John Relf said it was unlikely Perth would experience the extreme heat it endured last December.
This summer, a maximum average temperature of 28.7 degrees celsius is expected, well below the 40-plus temperatures that left locals sweltering last year.