Age: Despite recent rain in some areas, the drought has not come to an end – and it will take years of above-average rainfall to return the country to normality. The big dry has become worse in central Australia and is stubbornly persisting across much of the country, the Bureau of Meteorology says. Climate change was partly to blame, the bureau said in its latest monthly drought statement. “The combination of record heat and widespread drought during the past five to 10 …