With forecasters declaring the "El Nino" weather pattern blamed for the drought had ended and predicting the onset of the wetter "La Nina" system, Howard said he hoped climactic conditions may be turning.

But the prime minister, who last month urged Australians to pray for rain after announcing severe water restrictions in Australia's food bowl, the Murray-Darling Basin, was cautious about whether the experts were correct.

"I hope they're right, we can all say hallelujah," Howard told reporters. "We hope they're right but let's wait and see.

"We've had a lot of rain, not all of it in the right places and we still have to keep our fingers crossed that we can get more water into the Murray-Darling Basin."

A spokeswoman for the Upper Lachlan Council in New South Wales state said all water restrictions were lifted Thursday after dams filled to capacity for the first time in years.

At nearby Goulburn, which has been on Australia's toughest water restrictions since October 2004, the local council said it was set to ease controls Friday after the long-awaited rains brought localised flooding.

Goulburn residents will be able to wash their cars and take a lengthy shower for the first time in three-and-a-half years after the town of 27,000 people enjoyed its wettest June in a decade.

A Bureau of Meteorology report this week said that international models showed there was a good chance of a drought-breaking La Nina weather pattern forming.

"After stalling for around a month, there are renewed signs from the Pacific Basin which are consistent with the early stages of a La Nina event," the report said.

"Furthermore, computer models have been unwavering in their predictions of a La Nina forming during winter."

The bureau said all major meteorological models was showing the same signs.

"The fact that all major international coupled models show further cooling of the equatorial Pacific Ocean over the coming months suggests there is a distinct likelihood of a La Nina event occurring in 2007."

El Nino is an occasional warming of the central and eastern Pacific Ocean that typically happens every four to seven years and disrupts weather patterns from the western seaboard of Latin America to East Africa for 12-18 months.

It is often followed by a La Nina weather pattern, which occurs when the Pacific cools, increasing rainfall.

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