Australia’s hottest-ever spring has broken another record.

This week the Bureau of Meteorology (BoM) announced that spring 2014 was the hottest since consistent national records began in 1910, with an average temperature across Australia that was 1.67C above the average.

In a special climate statement released on Wednesday, the BoM now says spring 2014 had the largest departure from the average for any season since records began.

• Australia sweats through hottest spring on record

The previous record, set in autumn 2005, was 1.64C above the national average.

Australia’s average seasonal temperature is derived by averaging the temperature data from weather stations, where records go back to 1910.

The figure is then compared with the long-term average temperature, which measures the period from 1961 to 1990.

The average spring 2014 temperature of 24.17C exceeded the mean by 1.67C, BoM climate monitoring manager Karl Braganza said.

“That departure, averaged over a whole three-month period, is actually really large,” he said.

“That means it was, on average, over 1.5C warmer, and that’s the largest seasonal departure that we’ve ever recorded.”

November 2014 was also the warmest November ever recorded.

The average temperature for the month was 27.27C, 1.87C above the mean of 25.4C.

A spike in maximum temperatures – up 2.19C on the mean maximum temperature for November – contributed to the record-breaking mark.

Heatwaves in NSW and Queensland were major factors in the November result, while seasonal warm conditions were recorded across both states and in areas of South Australia and Western Australia, Dr Braganza said.

A large number of temperature and heatwave records were broken across Australia in spring.

The record for “early season” heat – the highest temperature recorded after July 1 but before summer – was broken on October 9 at Bidyadanga in Western Australia, when the mercury hit 45.2C.

The earliest day over 45C was recorded at several northwest WA sites on October 22, 2002, while the highest temperature recorded by October 9 for any year was 44.4C at Birdsville Police station in 1988.

-AAP