It could be a busy start to summer for the state’s firefighters with the latest seasonal outlook showing up to a 70 per cent chance of below average rain over most of Queensland and the Northern Territory.

Senior forecaster Matthew Bass says Arnhem Land and Queensland’s interior have the highest odds of being dry.

“The outlook here does only go to January – there’s still quite a lot of period after that where we can see good rains,” he said.

“It’s just a matter of seeing how the systems line up really.

“The east coast of Queensland again does look like an area where we’ll see a greater likelihood of being drier than average – not quite as likely as inland.”

He says it is also likely to be a warmer.

“The greatest likelihood of being below average for rainfall is basically extending from really the north-east of the Northern Territory around Arnhem Land, around the Gulf of Carpentaria into central, inland Queensland,” he said.