Good weather a Christmas Day gift

Christmas Day is expected to be a beautiful summer day

The sizzling weather baking most parts of the country will rub off on Northland, with great weather predicted for Christmas Day and over the weekend.

The good news from the MetService is clear skies in Northland should stick around for several days into early next week as well, making Northland one of the places to be this Christmas period. A ridge spreading over the country from across the Tasman Sea sweeping warm air from Australia will contribute to mainly fine weather on Christmas Day and an ever more stunning day on Saturday. However, low-level moisture underneath the ridge will lead to a few cloudy areas and afternoon showers, mainly on the hills on Friday.

MetService meteorologist Lisa Murray said temperatures in Northland were likely to hover around 23C on Friday and would rise a degree or two on Boxing Day.

She said any lingering cloud from trapped moisture should break up with the heat of the day to reveal blue skies in most places on Friday.

"It should be quite pleasant on Friday as well as over the weekend with long, fine spells and light southerly winds.

"If you're going out on Christmas Day, it's good to keep an eye out on a small low to the east of the country in case its position changes. It could increase winds a bit."

To find out if these showers could affect you, check the forecast for your area on metservice.com.

Temperatures will be in the 20s for most of Northland this weekend, with mid 20s early next week.

A swag of southern towns and cities were sweltering in stifling 30 degree-plus temperatures yesterday.

At lunchtime, Ashburton was basking in a hot 32.3C - the country's top temperature of the day so far. Dunedin, Timaru and Oamaru all recorded more than 30C yesterday.