Driest January for 25 years, records show

Those who like their summers hot and dry would have loved Rotorua in January.

Rotorua weatherman Brian Holden said last month was the driest on record since January 1988. Just 12.5mm of rain fell all month, compared to a normal January rainfall for the city of 96mm.

The second half of the month would have been especially worrying for farmers, as according to Mr Holden's records it hasn't rained since January 17.

"There's a lot of people out there who rely on rainfall," said Mr Holden, who admitted he was not one of those enjoying the current weather.

"I think you'll find they have had enough as well."

The mean maximum temperature for January was 18.1C, only slightly above the January norm. However, it got above 20C every day except one and there were two days - January 7 and 20 - where it edged above a scorching 30C.

"It's not uncommon to get two or three days above 30C in January and February ... but it doesn't get much higher than that."

Mr Holden said the effects of hot weather, which had people flocking to buy fans and struggling to sleep at night, had probably been exacerbated for many because there had been little or no rain.