Heatwaves in the United Kingdom and bushfires burning across parts of Europe provide a glimpse of Eastern Hemisphere summers to come under a changing climate. But what, if anything, does it say about what Australia can expect?

Professor Albert Van Dyke, Australian National University, Fenner School of Environment and Society, said climate scientists know exactly what's coming.

"We will break record after record," he said.

"I'm not saying every summer is going to be hotter than last summer because the weather is variable, but we've seen already in the last 10-15 years that we're breaking records left, right and centre, particularly when it comes to drought and heat."

While the 2021-2022 La Nina event has ended, the Bureau of Meteorology climate modelling suggests La Nina may return later in 2022. Another La Nina event will increase the chance of above average Spring rainfall across much of northern and eastern Australia.

Heavier than usual rainfall during that period reduces the risk of a hot, dry summer, however, it doesn't rule out the risk of bushfires.

Professor Van Dyke said while weather in the United Kingdom has very little bearing on what temperatures Australia can expect, the underlying effect of climate change affects all regions.

"What is relevant about the UK is these are the hottest temperatures ever," he said.

"The message there is climate change is happening fast and in some ways may be faster than has been predicted."

Professor Van Dyke said the Met Office, the United Kingdom's national weather service, hadn't predicted temperatures like what's being experienced now for at least another decade or two.

"You can expect heatwaves any summer in Europe, but in the UK that rarely comes with temperatures of 40 or even 35 degrees and that's what they're having now," he said.

"What's happening now is truly unprecedented."

Former NSW Fire and Rescue Commissioner Greg Mullins said higher than average rainfall across much of Australia meant land decimated in the 2019-2020 bushfires had grown back thick with scrub, creating a hazard when temperatures do eventually heat up.

"While it'd be almost impossible for there to be another Black Summer this coming summer because the ground is so wet ... there is the danger of massive grass fires," he said.

Mr Mullins said while forested areas on the east coast will likely remain too wet to burn for some time, Western Australia and western Tasmania hadn't had the same rain and were likely at heightened fire risk.

"I look at 1974 and 1975 as a bit of a parallel. There was massive rains in 1973-74 and the red centre of Australia turned green and then it burned," he said.

"Around 117 million hectares burned over months."

With almost 50 years managing bushfires in Australia, Mr Mullins has shifted his focus to raising awareness of the risk posed by a warming planet as a Climate Councillor and founder of Emergency Leaders for Climate Action.

He said, while it's unlikely this summer will see Australia burn the way it did in 2019-2020, one of the biggest changes he's observed over decades of fighting fires is the current unpredictability.

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"My father used to predict the seasons, the old timers would just look at certain flowers when they flowered and they'd go 'yep, we got a bad season coming'," he said.

"You can't do that anymore, because it's just so wild."

Talking to a firefighting buddy in California this week, Mr Mullins said the state is bone dry, spelling further danger for the United States in weeks to come.

"While we're getting wet, they're drying out," he said. "They're burning.

"You've got Turkey, Croatia, Greece, Italy, Portugal, Spain, France all experiencing major fires.

"I hate 'the new normal' because it's not normal, it keeps getting worse. You can't actually pin it down and say 'this is what it looks like now' because every year it gets worse."

Mr Mullins said at least Australia no longer had a government that needed convincing climate change was real.

"You've only got to argue about how much we do about it and how much money we spend on it," he said.

"So there's hope."