Australia appears to be headed for another La Nina this summer according to the first indicators of summer rain released by the Queensland Climate Change Centre of Excellence.

The centre bases its forecast on “leading indicators” of sea surface temperature conditions.

These measurements provide the basis of an early warning tool for possible La Nina conditions in the summer months for Australia.

The QCCCE says that at this point of the year the indicators are almost identical to last year – 94.5pc chance of normal or above normal rain (66.7pc above) in the November to March period compared to 94.7pc (68.4pc above) last year.

Australian Food News reported yesterday that the forecast is supported by another recent forecast from the Japan Agency for Marine-Earth Science and Technology (JAMSTEC), which believes a La Niña condition will “come back late this year and persist during the whole of 2012”.