Hot weather continues to heat up on Thursday

Surfers make the most of the monster waves that hit Mount Maunganui main beach this morning. Photo / George Novak

Large swells keeping surfers happy along the East Coast of the country on Tuesday are easing off as the weather gets increasingly hotter over the next few days.

North-easterly swells reached up to 3m along the coast near Hawke's Bay, Wairarapa, Dunedin, Canterbury, North Otago and Clutha earlier this week, while the swells in the Bay of Plenty and the Coromandel reached up to 2m.

But MetService shift meteorologist Sarah Haddon said while the swells were starting to ease, the temperature wasn't.

"Maybe people are getting a bit excited because this is a north-easterly swell one, which isn't as common as a westerly swell. In a way it's a little bit special, but I wouldn't say that 3m is outrageous, but it is a decent swell."

Wednesday is tipped to be hot, but Thursday will be a scorcher with the Coromandel, parts of the Waikato, Waitomo, Taumarunui, Rotorua, Taupo, Gisborne, Hawke's Bay and Wairarapa expected to reach the early 30s.

Blenheim will reach 33C and Christchurch 32C on Thursday. Auckland will also hit its hottest temperature for the week at 28C.

"Some places will probably feel just as hot both days, but overall it will be hotter on Thursday than on Wednesday. An increasing temperature trend over the past few days."

Haddon said the temperatures would start to drop as the weekend approached. The North Island temperatures would be reach between low to mid-20s, while the South Island would be much chillier.

"Friday won't be so outrageously cold, but definitely into Saturday and Sunday for pretty much all of the South Island it will be in the late teens, which is very different to Thursday where we are expecting 30Cs and highs of 33Cs."