South Island temperatures soar as Christchurch, Dunedin smash records

Wendy Elliott's son Cameron gets ready to hit the water at St Clair beach in Dunedin. Photo: Wendy Elliott / Otago Daily Times

Hundreds of hot Cantabrians headed to outdoor pools or the closest dairy for icecream to cool down from the scorching hot temperatures that hit the country today.

The heat in Christchurch reached a sweltering 36.1C, breaking the previous record of 35.4C measured in December 1975 at the airport.

It was also the hottest temperature of the day nationwide.

Around 600 people headed to Halswell Aquatic Centre in the city for a dip. The pool normally sees only around 20 to 50 people through its doors.

The temperature gauge hits 30 degrees at Mount Maunganui. Photo / Stephen Fear

A spokeswoman for the centre, Michaela Toia, said there were queues of people out the door waiting for the pool to open at 11am.

"The cafe sold out of icecreams and at about 2pm, we reached maximum capacity, so it was one in and one out," she said.

"That remained the same until about 5pm. The environment out there has been really fun and a lot of people from the community have come down. Everyone has enjoyed themselves."

Featherstone Dairy owner Vasanti Shivlal said the majority of customers yesterday bought cold drinks and icecreams to cool down from the extreme heat.

She said many people who had been working had noticed the heat "hit them" as soon as they walked out of the office.

Christchurch was one of a handful of cities to smash December temperature records.

Dunedin reached 34.6C, breaking the city's record of 32.2C, and Timaru, further north, hit 34.1C.

Ashburton hit a scorching 35.3C this afternoon, almost reaching the town's December record of 36.3C set in 1971.

Temperature guage on a Mobil Gas Station sign reads 33.4 degrees centigrade in Dunedin. Photo / Otago Daily Times

Other centres in the South Island also felt the heat, with Oamaru reaching 31.9C and Blenheim 26.6C.

One Canterbury resident, Ray, told Newstalk ZB his temperature gauge clocked 40C - and the heat hit him when he stepped out on to his driveway.

Another man, who was driving between Christchurch and Timaru, said the temperature gauge on his car told him it was 37C outside.

Unfortunately, for many people enjoying the weather, the hot temperatures felt throughout the country will not hang around for long.

On 15 Dec 1997, #Timaru set a December temp record of 34.1C. Timaru has met that record in the last hour... not yet broken it though! ^CF

— MetService (@MetService) December 21, 2015

Mount Maunganui this afternoon. Photo / Stephen Fear

MetService meteorologist Claire Flynn said the heat would soon begin tapering off thanks to a cold front set to hit the South Island this evening.

She said colder temperatures were expected to hit Southland first before moving up the country tonight and tomorrow morning.

Maximum temperatures across the country tomorrow would be much lower as a result, Ms Flynn said.

Brodie Baxter age 6 from Waikanae beat the heat by going on a mountain bike ride down the Waikanae River Trail with his Dad. Intermission was building a beach fort. Photo / Supplied via Scott Baxter

"There will be a noticeable drop in temperature across the country. For Dunedin we have got a high of 17 degrees tomorrow so from 34.6 degrees today to 17 degrees."

Parts of the North Island can expect brief patches of rain tomorrow as the front makes it way across New Zealand.

Hot maximum temps for eastern South Island tomorrow. Watch fire danger and strong winds #Foehn ^TA pic.twitter.com/ZUIM1nmau5

— MetService (@MetService) December 19, 2015