Autumn deepens across the southern states by 26 May 2026, with cooler mornings standard and the first inland frosts of the year appearing across the higher and southern parts of the country. The tropical north moves into its dry season during May, after the wet season that runs from November to April comes to its close.
Tuesday 26 May 2026 carries no recurring public holiday of its own outside the first Tuesday of November, when the Melbourne Cup applies in metropolitan Melbourne. On every other date, this day of the week runs as a standard working day across the country, counted fully in the working-day total above.
2026 has 365 days on the calendar. Leap years add a single extra day to February, giving those years 366 days instead of 365 and shifting the day-of-year number for every date from March onward by one compared with an ordinary year. This is the only irregularity in the length of the Australian calendar year.