Right now, Australia is in the season. As of May 10, 2026, the country is transitioning into the final weeks of autumn before winter officially begins on June 1.

Because Australia is a massive continent, the experience of "autumn" varies drastically depending on where you are—from crisp, golden leaves in the south to the start of the perfect "dry season" in the tropical north.

The specifics of any given Australian summer are heavily influenced by the El Niño-Southern Oscillation.

Liam had been putting off this walk for three months. The “Grieving Man’s Loop,” his wife Chloe had called it—a five-kilometre circuit through the state forest behind their cottage. She’d walked it every morning during her final winter, even when the oxygen tube looped under her chin like a silver necklace. He hadn't been able to set foot on the trail since she passed, last September.