High-pressure system anchors above the country and provides the north with more fine weather

Holidaymakers in the North Island have been licking their lips over the past few days as a high-pressure system applied constant sunshine and hot temperatures.

After a sloppy start to the holiday period for Auckland and other parts of the North Island, summer has well and truly settled in.

Kawerau recorded the day's hottest temperature at 32 degrees, while Haast, Te Anau and Milford Sound could only manage 18 degrees.

A ridge of high-pressure has anchored itself just north of the country and is to thank for the great summer weather over the past few days.

Yesterday, fine weather with light southwest breezes helped increase the mercury in Auckland to a steady 25 degrees.

Meanwhile, the east coast of the North Island was graced with hot temperatures, Gisborne, Napier, Whakatane all nearing 30 degrees.

Warm today over much of the North Island, with the country's high of 32C recorded at Kawerau this afternoon. Cooler conditions over the southwest of Aotearoa. Haast, Milford Sound, Te Anau and Invercargill all only manged to reach 18C today. ^AB pic.twitter.com/qzO8X2Mucs

— MetService (@MetService) January 7, 2019

Metservice meteorologist Lisa Murray told the Herald similar weather is set to continue throughout the rest of the week and into the weekend.

"Tomorrow there will be a little bit of morning cloud around and southwest breezes but a generally fine day and 24 degrees," for Auckland she said.

"Wednesday is also fine with light winds - a great day if anyone can get to the beach and are lucky enough to be on holiday."

The fine weather will also please tennis fans heading to the ASB Classic, with high peaks around the mid-20s throughout the day, and high teens at night.

It also might be time to head out and get an electric fan as more hot overnight temperatures can be expected in Auckland throughout this week.

Murray said temperatures are expected to average around the 18-degree mark, meaning more restless nights for those can't stand the overnight heat.

Looking towards the end of the week, Aucklanders can expect some isolated rain on Thursday but otherwise, it will be a generally fine day.

However, parts of central and southern New Zealand can expect a reprieve from the intense summer weather others in the north have enjoyed.

A moist-warm-northwest flow will sweep over the south around the middle of the week, disrupting outdoor plans for those in southern and central parts.

It's not all bad news though, Metservice expects warm winds to return from Wednesday, which will see temperatures start to rise again.