Temperatures soared across northern New Zealand yesterday as the first day of summer officially began.

Aucklanders sweltered under a 25 degree high but coupled with over 70% humidity WeatherWatch.co.nz says the ‘feels like’ temperature was actually 32.

In Whangarei it was even hotter with 27 degrees and a ‘feels like’ temperature in the mid 30s.

Head weather analyst Philip Duncan says the introduction of the humidex at WeatherWatch.co.nz means for the first time in New Zealand the public get a far better idea of just how hot it’s going to be. “In winter we talk of the wind chill factor well this is a summer version of that but we take into account humidity rather than wind”.

Mr Duncan says the humidex calculates the air temperature and humidity levels together to give a higher temperature that represents how it really feels outside. “While 25 isn’t terribly high a ‘feels like’ temperature of 32 is. Many Aucklanders complained to WeatherWatch.co.nz yesterday about the heat and the fact they were sweating a lot outside – not what you’d normally expect from a high of just 25″.

The humidex, or heat index, is widely used overseas especially in Canada and America.

Yesterday morning WeatherWatch.co.nz exclusively predicted a mostly dry morning and afternoon in Auckland as the rain clouds failed to eventuate. “These big, slow, systems can be a little frustrating to forecast. We saw that yesterday morning when we had to change our forecast and drop any mention of significant rain”. 

Today there’s a higher chance of rain moving in as the low in the Tasman inches closer to the country. Hot, humid, weather is going to last for the next few days across much of northern New Zealand while a brief cold southerly moves in to the South.

The South Island yesterday saw growth in the daytime highs with many places reaching the mid-teens. Today a brief change will see temperatures fall again. The heat is still predicted to return this weekend in the South Island.