Drought in much of the country is helping to drive dairy prices higher, but farmgate prices for beef and sheepmeat are weakening.

Two-thirds of more than 160 monitored river swimming sites in NZ have been deemed unsafe for a dip. Where are the worst spots?

At the age of 13. I was given a maximum and minimum thermometer, then bought a rain gauge and built my own weather recording station in Dunedin, observing the weather and recording observations of temperature and rainfall.

There is a high chance a tropical cyclone could hit the country sometime over the next few months, a report released by the national climate centre said today.

NZ farmers are facing summer water restrictions in some regions as an El Nino weather pattern develops.

The chances of an El Nino playing with our weather this summer have become more likely, according to a just-released report from the World Meteorological Organisation.

High temperatures and scarce rainfall helped make last month one of the driest Marches on record in many places.

Inter-island ferries have been suspended after the storm that battered the South Island today whipped up 7-metre waves in the Cook Strait.

Kiwis hoping for better weather until the end of the year could be in luck.

The first bite of autumn will be felt over much of the country in the next few days as rain sets in over the South Island.

Rain will bring some relief to drought-stricken farms this week, but the seasonal outlook is for dry conditions to linger well into autumn.

NZ's top climate change scientists have rallied together to slam a visiting sceptic who is touring the country to proclaim global warming as a myth that should be ignored.

Sun-lovers should head to the Bay of Plenty or Hawkes Bay for the best weather this summer, but most of the country can expect warmer, drier weather.

Despite 120km/h gales in the South Island and lower North Island there have been no reports of damage, emergency services say.

A scathing judgment backing Niwa represents a damning of climate sceptics' crusade.

A worldwide treaty banning aerosols 25 years ago averted a global catastrophe, New Zealand ozone layer scientists said today.

As valuable to marine life as it is prized by humans, the Hauraki Gulf is in decline. Though solutions seem as elusive as the gulf's fish stocks, a groundswell is building for collaboration.

NIWA have explored deeper seas than ever before, and found some new strange looking fish.