Record temperatures in Christchurch, Dunedin
A scorcher in the South Island.
Temperature records have been broken in Christchurch and Dunedin, and previous records met in Timaru and Oamaru, Met Service says.
On social media, the agency's official verdict was that it was "crazy hot".
Mid-afternoon, MetService reported the temperature in Christchurch as 35.5 degrees (with a "feels like 36" commentary), making it the hottest December day on record.
With 22% humidity, it was a classic dry heat.
The hottest temperature previously recorded in Christchurch for December was 35.4 in 1975, followed by 33.5 in 1994, according to MetService.
The garden city's hottest ever day, in any month, was 40 degrees in February 1973.
Mid-afternoon today, Timaru was at 34.1, and Oamaru and Dunedin both 34.
NIWA has warned summer 2015/2016 will be dry, with possible droughts in places, citing an unusually strong El Niño effect.
Finance Minister Bill English earlier said Treasury has built a $700 million El Niño cost into its forecasts.
MetService had its own issues as it web server melted down, or perhaps just wilted under the traffic. Its website was not accessible at times.
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Record temperatures in Christchurch, Dunedin
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