Weather: North of country swelters in 29C heat by early afternoon, balmy temperatures for New Year’s Day

Holiday hotspots in the country’s north are sweltering today, with some regions hitting 29C by early afternoon and likely to remain hot into the new year.

The Bay of Plenty is experiencing sizzling temperatures with a high of 30C forecast in Te Puke by about 3pm. Tauranga is sitting at 28C, but MetService says it “feels like” 29C.

Rotorua is currently sitting just below 28C, with fine skies now likely to become cloudy. The Bay of Plenty may see some showers this evening.

In the Coromandel, the mercury in Whitianga and Thames cracked 28C this afternoon. Auckland, meanwhile, lagged behind at 23C at 3pm.

Hastings and Napier have recorded their hottest days of the summer ahead of temperatures dropping for the New Year.

The mercury reached 28.2C at MetService’s weather station in Hastings about 1.30pm on Friday, which was the hottest temperature at the time in the country.

While the blistering temperatures were only forecast for today, balmy conditions will continue into the new year. Regions in the North Island will have temperatures in the low-to-mid 20s tomorrow and New Year’s Day.

MetService said settled weather would linger into the weekend with a ridge of high pressure over the country. New Year’s Eve should be a clear night.

Auckland should expect a party cloudy day tomorrow with evening showers though. The Super City should hit 26C, dropping to 23C and more cloud on Sunday.

Sunny 25C weather is forecast for Tauranga tomorrow and a partly cloudy 22C for New Year’s Day. Rotorua will drop to 22C tomorrow and further to 21C with a partly cloudy day.

The scorching heat in parts of the North Island today follows similar weather in the South Island earlier this week, but today temperatures in the south plummeted with Christchurch and Dunedin barely reaching 16C and 15C respectively.

Wellington also languished on 17C with brisk southerlies. The capital should have a fine final day of the year with some showers and cloud expected in the morning, while cloud is forecast for New Year’s Day. Both days should be 18C.

The Garden City should expect fine weather tomorrow apart from some morning cloud with a temperature of 19C and a partly cloudy day on Sunday. Evening cloud is forecast for Dunedin tomorrow but should remain fine most of the day at 17C.