Figures issued by the Bureau of Meteorology found that the capital received 43.6mm of rainfall over the season, far less than the historical average of 140.2mm.

“That is less than one third of the historical average,” meteorologist Sean Carson said.

“It was pretty dry. That ranks as the fourth driest autumn on record and the driest since 2004.”

There were 21 days which saw some rain in Canberra, but only two recorded more than 5mm.

It was also the seventh coldest autumn on record for Canberra, but slightly warmer than 2012 and above average in terms of maximum daytime temperatures.

Mr Carson said the average maximum daytime temp was 21.7 degrees, up 1.7 degrees on the historical average.

“It was our fifth warmest autumn on record for maximum daytime temperatures,” he said.

“We only had nine days below 15 degrees. It was pretty mild throughout.”

Throughout the three month period, there were 24 days reaching 25 degrees or higher. It was the most days above 25 degrees since 2006 and more than the historical average of 16 days.

There were also 12 consecutive days above 25 degrees between March 5 and 16, and nine consecutive days above 24 degrees between April 7 and 15.

However the clear skies which pushed up daytime temperatures also saw the mercury plummet late in the evening, Mr Carson said.

He said the minimum daytime average was 5.5 degrees, 1.3 degrees below the historical average.

“All in all, it was a pretty dry, mild autumn,” he said.

Canberra’s hottest day was recorded on March 10 at 31.8 degrees at Canberra Airport while the coldest day was May 15 at1.4 degrees at Mount Ginini. The coldest night was recorded on May 19 at minus 4.6 degrees.