UPDATED 3:10pm — Temperatures have reached as high as 36 degrees in Hawke’s Bay and 35 degrees in Gisborne this afternoon says WeatherWatch.co.nz.

Meanwhile sunny skies at Waitangi are producing a hot afternoon with a refreshing sea breeze. Coastal parts of Waitangi are in the mid 20s while just a little inland it’s up to 30 degrees.

It’s a similar story in Auckland, Coromandel Peninsula and Bay of Plenty too – coastal areas are around the mid to late 20s while inland areas away from the breeze are now as high the low 30s.

Parts of Gisborne City are now at 34 degrees and some suburbs were at 35 for a time.

Napier suburbs are currently between 28 and 33 degrees, reaching 34 earlier.

Frasertown, a small inland community near Wairoa in Northern Hawke’s Bay was at 35 degrees in the shade during peak afternoon heat.

But it’s Waipawa in Central Hawke’s Bay which reached 36 degrees last hour and is currently on 35 as of 3:10pm.

But it get considerably cooler further south. Wellington is windier, cloudier and cooler with temperatures currently in the late teens.

Jump across Cook Strait and you’re back to warmth with much of the upper South Island in the mid 20s but inland Canterbury, under the nor’wester, and Central Otago (like Alexandra) are now in the low 30s.

A cooler change will move through Southland and Otago this afternoon and evening and overnight through Canterbury making for a cooler Tuesday.

Tomorrow Gisborne and Napier will again reach the mid to upper 30s – but – the same southerly change arriving in Dunedin today will reach the eastern North Island on Wednesday and Thursday with highs dropping into the late teens.  There is good news – rain is also coming with this colder change. Great news for Gisborne which is now in drought and Hawke’s Bay which is arguably also in one. 

Temperatures as of 3:10pm Monday in the hottest part of New Zealand today / Wunderground

– 3pm heat map for New Zealand / Weathermap.co.nz 

*Temperatures thanks to Wunderground community data network

– WeatherWatch.co.nz