Another week of summer gone, and another set of crazy weather news items from home and around the world to marvel at!

We start in Auckland, where a mysterious light beaming up into the sky above Rangitoto Island puzzled a few locals on the weekend.
Several photos of the light, which appeared in the night sky sometime after 9pm on Saturday, and lasted about an hour, were sent through to WeatherWatch.co.nz, before the mystery was finally solved.

Light shines from Auckland’s Rangitoto Island to celebrate festival. https://t.co/1kDg1JQ3A6 pic.twitter.com/ldrQnU9ei7

— ONE News (@ONENewsNZ) January 29, 2016

Staying in Auckland, and Sunday saw plenty of action in the North Island – with thunderstorms, rain and really impressive cloud formations capturing our Auckland readers’ attention in the afternoon.
Check out some of their best pics and posts, here.

A little further afield, Canada was in the headlines last weekend too, after an avalanche near McBride, British Columbia, killed five people, according to Donita Cuzma of the British Columbia Coroners Service.

Closer to home, some parts of Australia have had an absolute nightmare of a summer thus far, with floods, drought and heatwaves dominating news across the Tasman.
Queensland was battered by floodwaters, while a “mini-tornado” destroyed several homes in New South Wales on Monday.
The Bureau of Meteorology (BoM) said a unique set of weather patterns were responsible for the nation-wide wet weather event, not expected to be repeated anytime soon.

Some weather over at Tuggerah Lake, Australia. pic.twitter.com/AcVgFERD1F

— Best Storm Pictures (@BestStormPics) January 30, 2016

Meanwhile, both Queensland and Western Australia are suffering through ‘severe’ heatwaves, with locals doing their best to beat the heat, as high temperatures and staggering humidity affect parts of the country.
Severe heatwave conditions in Queensland set in for a third day with temperatures across the south-east eight degrees above average at the start of the week.

Brisbane’s temp had already reached 30C at 8am: https://t.co/pqQRIuQGno Pic taken last night by Chris Van Wyk pic.twitter.com/WSrCmiao7Z

— The Courier-Mail (@couriermail) February 1, 2016

And Perth suffered through its hottest week in three years, averaging a maximum of about 38 degrees.
The last time the city averaged 37 degrees over a week was in December 2012 when it averaged 39.3 degrees (The city’s hottest week on record is 41.0 degrees, set in February 1933).

Weather Bureau says we’re in for a potentially deadly heatwave in #Perth. More details LIVE soon. @sunriseon7 #sun7 pic.twitter.com/jA0mhWihPR

— Matt Tinney (@Matt_Tinney) February 3, 2016

Back at home, it’s not looking much cooler on the weather front in some places, with above-average temperatures set to linger for the upper half of the North Island and many other regions over the next three months, as a strong El Nino keeps its grip on the country’s climate.

Remember to keep an eye on our long weekend weather updates here on WeatherWatch.co.nz – including rain maps showing just where and when you can expect rain over Waitangi Weekend.
You can check out the latest weather video with Philip Duncan, here, which also includes a look ahead to next week’s developments too.

And finally, check out some of these amazing images from outer space, as astronauts send back frankly incredible pictures of our beautiful country from above. Enjoy!

New Zealand looking stunning in the sunshine! #NewZealand pic.twitter.com/JDUoaZHB5w

— Tim Peake (@astro_timpeake) February 4, 2016

– Drew Chappell, WeatherWatch.co.nz