Northland news in brief: Great weather for Highland Games and food markets

Fine weather is forecast for today, making the Waipū Highland Games a great destination, but sunblock will be essential.

Sunblock will need to join the kilts, sporrans and other Celtic attire for those attending today's 149th annual Waipū Highland Games with sunny weather and warm temperatures forecast for the day. The games - the longest running in the southern hemisphere - are being held at Caledonian Park, in Waipū - with MetService forecasting a high of 27C-plus for Whangārei, with a bit of cloud in the morning, but plenty of sunshine in the afternoon. Piping and drumming championships start at 9am, followed by the grand entry of clans at 9.30am. Competitions start at 10am with a lunch break at 12.30pm, followed by the Parade of Costumes at the Main Arena at 1pm. Arena 2 will host a tug of war competition at 2.15pm and an hour later there will be a New Zealand record attempt for a farmer's walk - an exercise where an athlete carries heavy weights as far as they can.

Night markets

Kerikeri's Old Packhouse Market is holding a series of night food markets from 5pm-9pm on January 2, 16 and 30. As well as food, wine and craft beer the market will feature cricket and three-legged races on the lawn, bouncy castles and live music.

Helicopter landing site meeting

A public meeting to discuss a proposed helicopter landing site at Matauwhi Bay will get under way in the Christ Church hall in Russell at 4pm on Friday. The meeting has been called by Bob Drey, from the Russell Protection Society, to update the community and come up with a strategy for encouraging the Far North District Council to publicly notify the application. The society's AGM will follow at 5pm.

Warmest years

Niwa won't be releasing its report on the last decade until next week, but said yesterday that five of the last 10 years have ranked somewhere in the top 10 warmest years on record, including 2016, New Zealand's hottest year on record. This year would join that list, and would almost certainly be one of the five hottest five. New Zealand's average annual temperature had increased by about 1C over the last 100 years.

Tobacco tax hike

Northland smokers will have an extra incentive to give up from today, with the tax on tobacco products rising by 10 per cent. The tax hike is the latest in a series of them over the past 10 years. Regular tax increases have increased the price of the average pack of 25 cigarettes by an average of $1.70 each year. The average smoker will spend over $100 on cigarettes each week, more than double what they would have spent in 2011.