Two extremes: High temps warm the South Island as storm cleanup continues in the North

Parts of the South Island are recording significantly higher than usual temperatures, with Dunedin Aiport hitting a higher temperature than its Rarotonga counterpart this afternoon.

Dunedin Airport, Blenheim, Lower Hutt, Hurunui and Wainuiomata all recorded temperatures above 26 degrees at 2pm today. In comparison, Rarotonga’s airport was 26 degrees, as reported by MetService.

Meanwhile, the cleanup in the north of New Zealand continues from last week’s storm.

MetService meteorologist Dan Corrigan explained that a warm northerly flow tracking across the lower half of the country is the cause for today’s high temperatures.

“A good amount of sunshine during the day with little cloud cover and light winds inland has helped to heat things up,” Corrigan said.

Corrigan also said the temperatures may increase further as the afternoon progresses and “things continue to heat up”.

Dunedin Airport claimed the hottest temperature of the day. It reached 28.5C at about 12pm before MetService later recorded the temperature at the airport hitting 29.1C at 4pm.

Hurunui reached at least 28 degrees and Ashburton reached 27, both eight degrees higher than the November average.

“For context, Ashburton on a typical mid-November day would be getting up to 19.1 degrees in the afternoon,” Corrigan said,

Although no records were broken, Corrigan said the “hottest places today are getting well above average for what we expect to see in November”.

While the South Island is dealing with one weather extreme, the other end of the country is still cleaning up after last week’s storm.

Last Friday, heavy rain and strong winds battered Northland, Auckland and the Coromandel, causing flooding and more than 2000 homes to lose power.

Emergency services were slammed as trees took down powerlines and blocked roads, trapping some people in rapidly rising waters in Northland.

Powerful wind gusts and large swells also caused a yacht to break away from its mooring in Devonport, Auckland. Dramatic photos emerged of the boat, named Barrule, being slammed against Duders Beach.

Yacht Barrule is removed from Duders Beach at Devonport after it broke mooring and washed up Photo / Aja Lethaby

The boat, or what was left of it, was pulled from the water today using a crane, which dragged it up the shore before being lifted onto a bed of a truck.

The boat sustained major damage as a result of the storm, including a massive hole in the side of the hull.

Yacht Barrule is removed from Duders Beach at Devonport after it broke mooring and washed up. Photo / Aja Lethaby