Fire authorities in the Gisborne-East Coast region are warning the fire risk there has reached explosive levels.

The tinder-dry region was buffeted yesterday by gusty northwesters that reached up to 80 kilometres plus an hour.

Principal rural fire officer for Gisborne-East Coast Rene Londeman says the chance of a fire settling in and spreading quickly is very high and he is urging extreme caution.

While WeatherWatch.co.nz predicts some shower activity this morning it won’t be enough to end the dry spell with more strong winds on the way.

In fact, with the Autumn equinox passing – which means the sun now spends more time over the Northern Hemisphere than the Southern – the strong nor’west flow is expected to embed itself more firmly over eastern areas.

– with NewstalkZB.co.nz