Hawke's Bay's weather forecast to remain hot and humid

Locals took to Sandy Beach in Napier to cool off yesterday and the hot, clear conditions are set to continue for the rest of the working week. Photo / Duncan Brown.

Like many other parts of the country, Hawke's Bay basked in sweltering temperatures over the weekend, with hot conditions expected to continue throughout this week.

This proved somewhat challenging for those at the Wairoa A&P Show on Saturday, but perfect for visitors to the Ben Allen Transport surfcasting competition at Porangahau, and other beachgoers along the coast.

By early afternoon yesterday the mercury hit more than 30C in Hastings, making it the hottest place in the country throughout the morning, with similar readings for Waipukurau.

Napier was not far behind at 29C, although it could have been hotter in parts.

MetService meteorologist April Clark expected a slight reprieve today with some cloud cover taking the sting out of the sunshine, but hot, clear conditions would return for the rest of the working week.

She said a subtropical northerly flow was driving the warm air over the country, and not just during the day.

"The big thing is the humidity - in all areas it's been about two degrees above average, and warmer than average overnight."

For the week ahead she said it looked a little bit cooler today, but still fairly hot and muggy, with the possibility of occasional rain developing in the afternoon.

For tomorrow,highs of about 28C were expected, with the odd spot of rain, possibly heavier in the ranges with a chance of thunderstorms.

Wednesday and Thursday would be mainly fine, with the heat pumping up to the 30C mark again, which would carry through until the weekend.

Part of the reason for the above-average warm temperatures was the fact that any southerlies to hit the country were on the back of the subtropical low, so had not brought in cool, dry air from Antarctica, rather they had just recycled the warm air from ahead of the low.