• 24 mins ago

Baird government approves expansion of one of the biggest coal mines in Sydney's water catchment without knowing its impact.

• 26 mins ago

The west of New South Wales will be hit by higher temperatures in the coming days before cooling off midweek, as a hot air mass moves towards Sydney.

• 1 hr ago

Melbourne has had a hottest Christmas Day in 18 years, with the temperature topping at 36.3 degrees at 4.30pm today.

A powerful late-season typhoon Nock-ten is spinning towards the Philippines.

Canberrans may be left dreaming of a white Christmas on Sunday with the mercury set to hit 31 degrees.

Most of New South Wales will swelter through Christmas Day with a heatwave affecting much of the State, including parts of Sydney, the Bureau of Meteorology says.

A severe thunderstorm warning has been issued for parts of NSW to the north and east of Canberra.

Holidaymakers may want to keep a eye on rain radars as well as the mercury over the coming week.

A warm and sunny morning is expected to greet Canberrans on the year's most festive day, but a turn for the worse remains up in the air.

Its eruption 39,000 years ago may have set off a 'volcanic winter' that contributed to the extinction of the Neanderthals.

The government has confirmed Australia's greenhouse gas emissions are rising, and projected that it will not get near its 2030 climate target under current policies.

If Santa really lived at the North Pole his sleigh would run the risk of falling through the ice.

• COMMENT

As plans are made ahead of the festive season, why not consider someone who doesn't want anything from us but compassion ... and to be left off our plates.

A trial of aerial drones at Redhead Beach has been extended for the rest of the school holidays, after a drone found a three-metre great white shark swimming among surfers on Tuesday.

World temperatures are likely to dip next year from a sizzling record high in 2016, when man-made global warming was slightly boosted by a natural El Nino event in the Pacific Ocean, scientists said on Tuesday.

Sydneysiders will have to wait until the evening before relief from the heat arrives with a burst.

A dozen hopeful whale watchers got to see something few people have.

If someone asked you to name the necessary five steps for preparing your home for bushfires this season, would you be able to?

Canberrans opting for a traditional Aussie barbecue this Christmas might want to choose lunch over dinner or be left eating snags with a side of showers.

A new power station for south western Victoria will be among the offers to multinational Alcoa when federal and Victorian industry ministers Greg Hunt and Wade Noonan fly to New York on Monday.

The number of waterbirds across eastern Australia's wetlands hit another record low this year.

Numbers of migrating birds travelling from the Arctic to Botany Bay are dwindling.

A mystery object that washed up on a New Zealand beach continues to baffle officials.

Food shortage is having a grave impact on flying fox populations and ACT Wildlife has warned Canberrans to keep clear and report malnourished or dead bats to authorities.

Sydney could be celebrating a wet Christmas this year, with a chance of showers across the city.

Taronga Zoo opens Squirrel Monkey Jungle Walk

The world is a confusing place, fraught with danger and despair. We all want to do the right thing by the planet, but often it's difficult to determine exactly how to do that.

Perth Zoo has hit back at allegations zookeepers uses 'bullhooks' in order to coerce its Asian elephants into painting their famous portraits.

Biologist Chandler Robbins first placed an aluminium band around her ankle at Midway Atoll in 1956. Wisdom is now the oldest known breeding bird on Earth.

A gusty southerly cool change will bring much-welcomed end to Sydney's record-breaking heat.