It’s been a hot day across New Zealand with temperatures reaching the mid 30s and reliable private weather stations recording as high as 36 and 37 degrees in some parts of Hawke’s Bay and 35 and 36C in some parts of Marlborough.

For the most part the hottest places on Monday were in the upper South Island and the eastern North Island and a west to south west flow across the middle of the country (that started up in the sub-tropics and flowed down the eastern side of Australia before reaching New Zealand today) helped boost temperatures in the upper South Island and eastern North Island but helped make for a bit of a cool and cloudy start to the day (again) in the western North Island.

It was foggy around Wellington and and a few other parts of New Zealand this morning thanks to this humid airflow.

On Tuesday these winds ease further and this shifts where the hotter-than-average weather will be. It will help make inland areas of both islands hotter than today and that will generate sea breezes in coastal places. That could see Napier become a few degrees cooler than today if that wind kicks in. 

This new set up for Tuesday will see the heat push into inland parts of the North Island and the South Island too with a slight southern lean – pushing that heat into areas like Whanganui, Manawatu, Central Plateau, King Country, South Waikato and further into Southland and Otago (with sunnier skies than today likely too).

• See our InfoGraphic for Tuesday here showing some of the weather highlights to expect all in one Map!

Some of the cooler areas may be the very coastal eastern side of the country (like Banks Peninsula, Christchurch, even Napier and eastern parts of Hawke’s Bay, also coastal Auckland in the west, like Piha – although Henderson in West Auckland may be quite hot in the afternoon being inland and sheltered by the Waitakere Ranges).

WeatherWatch.co.nz says if you’re in the hot areas, avoid taking your dogs for walks in the heat – they don’t have shoes for the hot tarmac which can be double the air temperature, or more. Livestock should have plenty of water and shaded areas to go to during the day.

Monday’s hot spots below circled, compared with Tuesday. All areas highlighted below are hotter than average:

– WeatherWatch.co.nz