Temperatures expected to reach high 30s over the next week across New Zealand
Garden and car thermometers around the country are hitting the mid- to high-30s,
Severe thunderstorm warnings have also been issued for parts of New Zealand this afternoon, including Taranaki just past 5pm.
In a very unscientific poll, Herald staff and readers around the country took temperature readings in their cars, homes, offices and gardens at 3pm on the dot.
Under John Selkirk's veranda in Waimauku the temperature was nudging 42C, according to his thermometer.
Sue and Bryce Hunt's house in Glen Oroua, southwest of Palmerston North, was close behind. The temperature in the shade was 31.7C - while in the sun it was a baking 39.6C.
The couple have been inundated with flies in the last two day, Sue said.
"I went to one of the Countdown supermarkets in Palmerston North this morning to buy fly spray and the shelves were practically empty – there were six cans left!!"
While it's just shy of 40C at the Hunts' house, MetService meteorologist Lisa Murray cautioned that sunshine and building heat would have pushed the reading well above the real temperature - which MetService had measured at 29C at Palmerston North Airport.
"When you're measuring the temperature it should be 1.4m above the ground, in a shaded area," she said. "Our weather stations are in Stevenson Screens, which shade [them] but let air through."
An in-car reading from Palmerston north a bit after the appointed time. Photo / Alecia Rousseau
A non-MetService weather station in the city centre was measuring 32C, which she said was likely to be accurate thanks to the extra concrete and buildings heating things up.
Even our politicians aren't immune to the heat. Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern's partner Clarke Gayford tweeted a picture of the readings from the HRV system at their house in the Auckland suburb of Pt Chevalier.
It was measuring 53C inside the roof cavity and 28C in the house.
NZME reporter Kay Gregory's Te Awamutu driveway is also cooking. Her car is measuring 37C, and there's not a breath of wind. Gregory is heading for the pool.
It's 33.9C in the Auckland suburb of Mission Bay, according to a weather station in the backyard of NZME's Allison Whitney.
Whoa! A super hot day in Wellington NZ. Roof temperature 52'c and rising. All windows open; indoor temperature 28'c. Missing a pool. We need rain. My sympathy goes to the people in Cape Town SA. https://t.co/jIF2YUNWsSpic.twitter.com/sgw1V3YKbM
Humidity is 44 per cent - she says the "pool or hammock in shade is the only place to be!".
Several other Aucklanders have sent in readings over 30C. However the hottest temperature recorded in Auckland so far by MetService is 28.8C at Ardmore Aerodrome in South Auckland.
Reporter Natalie Akoorie measured 36C on two different devices in direct sunlight in Tamahere, between Hamilton and Cambridge, with 50 per cent humidity.
"We are coping by staying indoors, swimming in the pool or using the air con. [The] dogs aren't coping too well. They are panting up a storm."
Ashleigh Collis at the Horowhenua Chronicle said the Levin town clock had measured 33C earlier in the day - it's now dropped to a refreshing 31C.
The Levin town clock measured 31C at 3pm. Photo / Ashleigh Collis
The official MetService forecast today had Alexandra in Central Otago to take out the top spot, with a predicted 35C, while Wanaka was set to hit 34C.
Lisa Murray said both towns were on track for those targets, with Alexandra the hottest place in the country right now at 34.1C and Wanaka close behind at 33.6C. Both were expected to get warmer before the evening arrived.
Meanwhile the MetService has issued severe thunderstorm warnings for parts of the country, with Taranaki the latest in the firing line.
