If you're seeing rain, don't worry, summer has announced its arrival with temperatures shooting up to the late 20s in many parts of New Zealand this week.
Much of the country basked in sunshine over the weekend, and while there may be some thunderstorms this week in the North Island, areas like Hawke's Bay will be feeling the heat.
A tropical northwesterly wind has been bringing the warmth to Hawke's Bay, which broke a 52-year-old temperature record on November 23 when it reached a 33degC high.
The summery weather has taken us from an unusually cold October to an unusually warm November, MetService meteorologist Lisa Murray says.
"The heating of the land today will activate inland convective showers over the North Island, with the possibility of the odd severe thunderstorm and downpours in some areas," Ms Murray says.
"The strong northwesterly winds ahead of this front affect central New Zealand on Wednesday," she says. "The front then sails up the rest of the island on Thursday, doing its best to water gardens throughout the North Island."
Ms Murray says people in the west and central regions of the country should keep up-to-date with forecasts and severe weather warnings.
Looking ahead to the weekend's Christmas celebrations in Auckland and Wellington, Ms Murray says: "There is a fast-moving front passing over the country on Saturday which will bring a period of rain, but there is an improving trend for Sunday which looks a lot drier for both cities."
The wettest recorded Christmas in New Zealand was in 1987.
The hottest Christmas was 1969 with an average temperature of 26.6degC, and the coldest was 1976, with an average temperature of 17.7degC.
Records began in 1962.
Newshub.
