The sun has come out to play and is here to stay, with a scorcher of a long weekend across the country.

Wairoa District Mayor Craig Little says 2017 is about getting back to basics to spruce up shop fronts, roads, and footpaths to improve the town's visual identity. Made with funding from NZ On Air.

We can expect normal temperatures in the coming months but less rain.

The weather's going to be (finally) glorious for most of the country.

Mayors in three of New Zealand's poorest districts - the Far North, Rotorua and Gisborne - want to take over central Government agencies in their areas to eradicate "entrenched poverty".

While the eastern region swelters in one of the most rain-deprived Januaries in more than a century, some western areas have been drenched.

An Australian lawyer is searching for Kiwi victims of serial paedophile Catholic priest Father Denis McAlinden. Alyce Johnson of

Tevita Lokotui, who plays the tuba in the school's brass band, is recovering after having his leg amputated at the knee as a result of the Christmas Eve bus crash.

Dozens of teachers were disciplined or struck off last year for sexual, inappropriate or aggressive behaviour towards students.

An 8-year-old boy who died alongside his father in a truck crash in the Hawke's Bay wanted to drive trucks just like his dad, family say.

Police have named the man killed in Wednesday's crash.

Members of a shearing gang were injured this morning when the van they were in left the road and smashed into a tree.

Relatives of a cyclist killed in a crash this morning arrived at the scene.

Two houses were searched and a number of people were spoken to. No arrests have been made as yet.

A man has been flown to hospital after being hit by a large fish bin onboard a fishing trawler north-east of Gisborne.

Archbishop Brown Turei, one of the leaders of the Anglican Church in New Zealand and Polynesia, will be remembered at a funeral tomorrow.

An elderly Gisborne woman's handbag was stolen while she took holy communion at a city church on Sunday and other church parishioners have been warned about it.

Firefighters are returning to the scene of a major scrub fire that gutted a house, destroyed a shed and forced the evacuation of baches and homes in the Hawke's Bay.

Emergency services are battling a scrub fire in Gisborne.

New Zealand crowds 'not as spoiled' as the rest of the world, say chart-toppers.

A teen who ran to the aid of a woman being attacked at a campground on New Year's Day has described her screams as the "most horrific" thing he has ever heard.

Big swells predicted to surge up the eastern side of New Zealand from Kaikoura to north of Mahia Peninsula

EXCLUSIVE: Family members recall how Leotisia Malakai - the third victim of a horrific bus crash near Gisborne - slipped into a coma and never woke up.

Leticia Malakai's death brings the holiday road toll to 19 - the highest since the 2011/2012 period.

As most Kiwis were partying to see the new year in, others were being born.

Eight people were arrested after a police raid of 12 tents at the Rhythm & Vines music festival at Gisborne yesterday.

The MetService is forecasting rain for much of New Zealand today, perhaps ruining plans for post-party barbecues and sunbathing.

Revellers packed out bars and party-hot spots the length of the country last night to welcome in 2017. Fine weather in most of the

A spectacular fireworks display off Auckland's Sky Tower and parties around the country herald the start of a new year.

A man has been arrested after another man was allegedly stabbed in the remote East Cape.