Weather watchers are anticipating potentially record-breaking temperatures across the country tomorrow - which also happens to be the shortest day of the year.
National Institute of Water and Atmosphere meteorologist Ben Noll said daily temperature records would face a challenge tomorrow, with many places likely to record highs more typical of mid-April than late June.
Auckland and Hamilton could break their record of 17.8C, while New Plymouth was set to beat its 16.4C high and Nelson was poised to top its record high for June 21 of 15.5C.
It was expected to be even warmer on Wednesday in the east of the South Island, with Invercargill (record 14.4C), Dunedin (record 17.4C), and Christchurch (record 18.2C) are forecast to close in on daily record maximum temperatures.
It comes as the Winter Solstice is scheduled to occur at 10.34am tomorrow, when the sun's position in the sky reaches its farthest point north of the Equator.