We’ve had a couple of very sad weeks in New Zealand waters this year, with several deaths at beaches around the country and some close calls prompting warnings from the Surf Lifesavers Association.

With summer well and truly underway though, most kiwis have been in the sea, taken a dip in a lake or jumped into a river – so we wanted to know what the temperature felt like compared to other years.

We asked “how warm is the water?” and the response was pretty positive – with just under half of voters saying the water feels warm this year.

32% said it feels about the same compared to other years, while 21% said it was colder than usual.

Keep an eye out for our next poll, coming tomorrow morning!

– Drew Chappell, WeatherWatch.co.nz