Bring out the sunnies and slap on the sunscreen as one of the hottest days of summer is set to scorch New Zealand and bring with it a dangerous wildfire “spike day” for parts of the South Island.
Niwa Weather is predicting temperatures could be hotter than 30C in several places today, including Christchurch, making it some of the hottest temperatures we’ve seen so far this summer.
Aucklanders are expecting another hot one, with temperatures creeping to the mid-to-late 20s.
The eastern South Island will see much of the heat, however.
Yesterday, the warmest place in the country was the Tarras Airfield in Central Otago with 31C. Alexandra and Roxburgh were a close second with 30C.
Meanwhile, holidaymakers and locals in Central Otago and the Queenstown Lakes areas are being asked to take particular care not to spark an unwanted fire.
Otago community risk manager James Knapp says the overall fire risk in the region is in the moderate-to-high range, but in some areas, the risk will rise to very high or even extreme today, before dropping back again on Friday.
“On Monday we had a ‘near miss’ on Queenstown Hill, and it was only thanks to the efforts of the volunteer fire brigades that homes weren’t damaged or destroyed. It shows just how quickly a small fire can grow into a blaze and be very difficult to bring under control,” says Knapp.
Temperatures are expected to rise in the North Island tomorrow as the scorching heat and “tongue of warm air” will make its way north.
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