Sweltering heat tipped to cool

Caitlin Fletcher, 5, in Alexandra. Picture / Otago Daily Times

There's good news on the weather front for the coming long weekend and relief in sight for city-bound office workers who sweltered in hot and humid conditions again yesterday.

A warm air mass stalled over the country sent temperatures soaring and Napier/Hastings, Gisborne, Alexandra and Christchurch all reached the low 30s.

Alexandra got to 31C, a slight relief after temperatures reached 36C on each day of Anniversary Weekend.

"It's unreal, very much lack of sleep because it's so damn hot," said Caltex Alexandra duty manager Ingrid Quinn.

"Unofficially it's been up to 40C in the sun. People in the shop have been going through the drinks and ice creams.

"They come in and we have the air conditioning on and they say, 'Ooh, it's lovely in here'. Then they walk outside and it's like walking into an oven."

Nigel Reichenbach, owner of Lix Ice Cream Experience in downtown Gisborne, said the past few days had been "stinking hot" but most people greeted the heatwave with open arms.

"It was very humid on Saturday, Sunday and Monday, and yesterday the northwesterly kicked in so it was just hot," he said.

"We've done a roaring trade over the past few days. Yesterday was a huge day, as good as anything over the Christmas and New Year period."

Auckland and Hamilton reached 27C but humidity of about 70 per cent made it seem a lot hotter.

The heat was typical for this time of year, said MetService weather ambassador Bob McDavitt, and it might be over all too soon.

"This should be the peak this week because this time of year is when we get the hottest days," he said.

"After Waitangi weekend things start to cool down although there could be a few hot days to come."

A cooler change is forecast to arrive over the North Island from today as the wind switches to the southeast or southwest.

Auckland, Waikato, Bay of Plenty and Taupo could get some showers today but the rest of the North Island should be fine.

The outlook for the coming long weekend is for mainly fine weather.