News Roundup - Jan 4 2012

Get ready for a weekend scorcher as temperature rise in southeast Queensland - Courier Mail
BREAK out the sunscreen and plan a beach trip because the southeast is set for a warm and humid weekend.

More extreme weather on Australia's radar - News.com.au
THE nation's largest insurers have warned Australians to brace for more catastrophic weather brought on by a rising global temperatures.

La Nina whips unseasonal weather into a wet frenzy - SMH.com.au
ALMOST 70 centimetres of rain was dumped across Australia last year, making it the third wettest year since uniform rain records began in 1900.

2011 weather report card 3rd wettest on record - ABC Rural
The annual climate report released this morning by the Bureau of Meteorology has confirmed what we all knew: that 2011 was a very wet year, indeed the third wettest since records began in 1900. The mean total rainfall was 699 millimetres which is 234 millimetres above average.

Good weather saves Queensland tourism - ABC News
The Queensland Tourism Industry Council says good weather over the festive season has saved many operators from bankruptcy, after natural disasters devastated the sector last summer.