Northland was the place to be in 2013, with three towns among the centres with the top five average temperatures for the year.
Dargaville had the highest average temperature in the country, followed by Whangarei, with Kaitaia fifth.
Niwa's 2013 climate summary shows the country sweltered through its third warmest year on record, with the national average temperature 13.4C, 0.8C above average, and the third warmest since 1909.
Dargaville, though, led the country with an average temperature of 16.5C. Whangarei with 16.3C was second, Kaitaia fifth with 16C, Kaikohe 12th on 15.5C and Kerikeri 13th on 15.4C.
But the warm weather brought a sting - the region suffered its worst drought in 60 years - with Dargaville also recording its lowest annual rainfall since 1943 of 820mm.
Last year was also sunnier than normal for much of Northland, with Kaitaia recording 2315 sunshine hours - the town's second highest on record - and Dargaville recorded 2140 hours, its third highest.
Dairy farmer Amanda Sole, who lives 20km northwest of Dargaville at Mamaranui, didn't notice the higher temperatures but couldn't avoid the big dry. "And that's impacting on us this year as well. We haven't had much of a wet spring and it's hitting us pretty hard."
Record high and low temperatures were also recorded in the region. On August 13, Kaitaia hit 22.1C, its highest August temperature ever, and its highest for November, 26.3C, came on the 22nd of that month.
Kerikeri meanwhile recorded its lowest ever May temperature on the 29th with 2.2C, while its lowest ever September temperature was on the 5th at 0.7C. Kerikeri also recorded its highest one-day July rainfall with 92mm on July 3rd.
Niwa's principal meteorology scientist, Mike Revell, said the national average temperature last year was 13.4C, 0.8C above average and the third warmest on record since 1909. The hottest year was 1998, followed by 1999.
Dr Revell said with its higher latitude it was no surprise Northland led the way, with the region not suffering the extreme low temperatures other areas did in winter.
"I think it indicates that there's been a significant upward trend ... we are expecting temperatures to continue to increase. The general drift of temperatures over the past 100 years ... you could probably fairly safely associate that with global warming."
Above average northerly winds, bringing warm air from the tropics, contributed to the country's warmer temperatures: "The winter was the warmest we've ever had, so although the year itself was the third warmest, the actual winter was the warmest we've had since 1909."
In 2013, 11 tornadoes and four waterspouts occurred around the country but didn't cause death or injury.