Hawke's Bay sizzles in heatwave: Napier hottest place in New Zealand

It was hot, hot, hot out there yesterday , with temperatures over 30 across most of Hawke's Bay.

MetService meteorologist Andrew James confirmed Napier was tied in the race for hottest place in the country, hitting 35C about 3pm.

Blenheim also made it to 35C.

He said the temperature was slightly cooler across the rest of Hawke's Bay, with 32.2C recorded in Hastings and 30.5C in Wairoa.

Amateur weather watchers were recording temperatures into the 40s.

The temperature gauge on top of Mike Mann Betta Electrical In Waipukurau recorded 36C.

Flaxmere resident Karen Pokotea posted a picture on Facebook with a thermometer reading over 40C, and Nikki Johnston from Taradale recorded 40C

Further north, in Kotemaori, Gemma Redington recoded 42C.

St John Ambulance said it had not received any heat related callouts, and a spokesperson for Fire and Emergency NZ said no fires in Hawke's Bay could be directly linked to the weather.

The spokesperson did ask people to be sensible as the hot weather continues, and not throw cigarettes into grass, and keep an eye on fire restrictions, which can change in an instant.

"Check it's alright before you light," she said.

People were clearly going to great lengths to get shade, Eastern District Police posted on Facebook saying they had a number of complaints about shade sails being stolen over summer.

They also went to a callout in Napier after children were left in a car, but did not respond to any other heat related callouts.

The worst of the hot weather is over, with Monday expected to be the hottest day of the week, but temperatures will remain in the high 20s, with overnight highs expected to be in the late teens or early 20s.

The temperature is not expected to cool off until the weekend.

MetService meteorologist Tui McInnes said the hot weather is in part caused by last weeks heatwave in Australia.

"What that's done is it's helped to warm the surrounding Tasman sea, as well as warmed the air up itself."

He said as the air moves over the Tasman from Australia it stays warm, because it's moving over warm ocean.

"If it was over colder ocean the air would cool down a bit as it transports."

"It's not so much the sun that's impacting the temperatures, the air itself is quite warm."

As well as this, New Zealand has a high pressure system sitting over it.

"That brings calmer, settled conditions, which allow the sun to nudge those temperatures even higher."

He said the East Coast was particularly hot due to geography, as it is sheltered, flat, and at sea level, which means heat gets trapped.