Asian elephants Burma and Anjalee get a special treat to help cool them down in the hot weather.
The country is set for a brief respite of cooler weather this weekend as New Zealand enters the "peak" of the heat wave today.
Temperatures in the South Island were cranked to the max yesterday, with Cheviot reaching 36.1C - New Zealand's warmest temperature this summer, Pukaki (Mt Cook) reached 34.8C, Hurunui 34.4C and Masterton got to 32.7C.
Niwa said Thursday would be the "peak" of the heat wave, and predicted temperatures could reach 37C in parts of north Canterbury.
Fine weather is on the cards for the Auckland region again today with a high of 27C, although there will be some cloud in the morning and evening, with easterly breezes.
Heatwave continues across New Zealand: 🌡️ Cheviot: 36.1˚C, the warmest temp in NZ so far this summer and the town's equal-4th warmest temp on record.
More: 🌡️ Waiau: 34.5˚C 🌡️ Medbury: 34.0˚C 🌡️ Masterton: 33.2˚C, the warmest in the North Island today. pic.twitter.com/ngN8cXIT0p
MetService meteorologist Hannah Moes said today's top main centres were forecast to be Blenheim in the South Island on 34C, and Masterton in the North Island on 33C. But many more spots were tipped to top 30C, a trend the country has experienced since the heat began on Sunday.
"Today is looking very similar to the past few days, apart from some cloud in the morning and at night it is looking fine for most places," Moes said.
The peak of the heatwave is tomorrow ♨️
NIWA's high-resolution model is forecasting a max temp near 37˚C in North Canterbury and 34˚C in the Wairarapa. pic.twitter.com/hciWorGgX2
The country's eastern centres were looking to be the pick of the bunch again, with high temperatures boosted by the foehn effect as the air mass passed over the country's central mountain ranges.
The exceptions to the fine weather were gale northerlies forecast about Fiordland and strengthening westerlies in central New Zealand.
Yesterday was wera (hot)! So hot in fact that a number of our weather stations broke their own records for highest recorded temperature! Check out today's temps at https://t.co/KjoElHh2uF ^Lisa pic.twitter.com/K6c0DSIE6x
Last night was another sweltering one for Auckland, with the mercury hovering around 20C before dipping to 18C about 6am.
MetService meteorologist Lisa Murray said some respite from the heat was coming for parts of the country in the form of a punchy southern system.
"We are still under this ridge of high pressure, what we are seeing is a slight increase in winds," she told the Herald.
"We've been seeing these sea breezes in the afternoons cooling things down, sometimes by as much as 10 degrees.
"What we're going to see now is as the new front approaches the winds will pick up over Fiordland and other places gradually and then across the country."
Temperatures peaking for the day and it's a race between Pukaki and Hurunui for the nations warmest today. ^AH pic.twitter.com/meUDuTwoFL
According to Watercare, Auckland residents drank or used 524 million litres of water on Tuesday which is 20 million litres more than the previous record.
"As the mercury rose, so did consumption," it said in a statement.
"Watercare worked to supply more treated water, so that no taps ran dry: producing 530 million litres ―six million litres ahead of demand."
