Ballarat's recorded 744.6mm of rain - but probably more as the rain gauge at the weather bureau's Ballarat Airport monitoring station was offline during heavy rain mid-year - on 198 rainy days compared to the city's long term average of 685.5mm of rainfall over 167.7 days.

And the wet weather has continued through the first week of 2022 with 48.2mm of rain to 9am Friday - already well over the monthly long term average of 40.1.

January 2021 was the wettest month of the year recording 117.8mm, almost triple the monthly average, much of which fell during storms. February was driest, with just 10.2mm of rain, under a quarter of the average.

The increased rainfall across the year means Ballarat's water supplies are now 95 per cent full, four per cent higher than at the same time last year.

Australia and Victoria recorded their coolest year in nearly a decade, according to the Bureau of Meteorology's Annual Climate Statement.

"In 2021, Australia's mean temperature was 0.56 C above the 1961 to 1990 climate reference period. It was the 19th warmest year since national records began in 1910, but also the coolest year since 2012," said senior climatologist Dr Simon Grainger.

"The mean temperature in Victoria was 0.26C above average overall, making it the coolest year since 2004."

But the increase in Ballarat's mean temperature was almost double the state average. During 2021, Ballarat recorded an average maximum temperature of 18.3C, 0.6C higher than the long term average.

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While Ballarat's rainfall was about eight per cent higher than average, across the state the increase was slightly less. "Victoria's rainfall in 2021 was five per cent above average and the wettest year since 2016," Dr Grainger said.

Mother Nature turned on her worst in June when winds of well over 100kmh downed thousands of trees across the region, devastating areas around Trentham, Daylesford and Blackwood, many of which were cut off because of fallen trees. Late October more severe storms lashed Ballarat resulting in extensive damage.

After several years of below average rainfall across winter, the conditions changed to a wetter than average winter with two of the three winter months recording rainfall totals well above average. Temperatures were almost spot-on the average for winter but with 70 days of rain the grey skies often made it feel colder and drearier that it actually was.

Last year was the first in five years that no large parts of the country were experiencing drought conditions.

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