Shivers, it's cold in Central Otago

Blacks Hotel at Ophir, at the centre of a hoar frost in 2007. Photo / Gerard O'Brien

As the first chills of winter arrive, spare a thought for those who endured New Zealand's coldest days on record. We take a look at some of the most extreme weather to hit the country.

• Coldest temperature on record: -25.6degC - Ranfurly, Otago, July 17, 1903
The coldest temperature registered in New Zealand was just 60km away from where the second-coldest day was recorded. On July 17, 1903, the temperature in Ranfurly dropped to -25.6degC.

"Beef and mutton are frozen, and can only be cut with a saw or chopper, a knife being of no use,'' one newspaper reported.

The Tuapeka Times, July 18, 1903, reported: "It is some years now since frost of equal severity to the present has been experienced in the district.''

Climate scientist Georgina Griffiths says it is not surprising the record was from the Central Otago area, as it is the only New Zealand region with a continental climate of very hot summers and extremely cold winters.

• Second-coldest temperate on record: -21.6degC - Ophir, Central Otago, 1995
The second-coldest temperature on record was -21.6degC, recorded at Ophir, in 1995.
Residents remember livestock freezing to the ground and people having to prise frozen hens from their perches.

"We would have to cart buckets of water to the toilet to be able to flush because all of the pipes were frozen,'' Ophir resident Jack Allen recalls.

• Third-coldest temperature: -21degC - Omarama, June 24, 2015
South Canterbury and Otago endured New Zealand's coldest day in 20 years on June 24, 2015.

Niwa's climate summary for June recorded the lowest temperature at Tara Hills, near Omarama, in the Mackenzie Country.

• Fourth-coldest temperature: -19.8degC - Pukaki Aerodrome, near Mt Cook, June 23, 2015

It was a bone-chilling couple of days in June when Pukaki nearly matched Omarama's -21degC the following day.

Local Kirsty Williamson said: "It was really hard to keep the water running in the house ... the power's been a big issue'', with last week's snow still frozen to the ground, she said in 2015.

• Fifth-coldest temperature: -19.7degC - Ophir, 1943
• Most rainfall in 12 hours: 566mm at Prices Flat, Hokitika, May 11, 1978
• Least rainfall in a year: 212mm Alexandra, 1964
• Deadliest storm: 54 fatalities, Cyclone Giselle in 1968 (most on board the Wahine ferry)
• Deadliest tornado: Three fatalities, Hamilton, 1948
• Strongest wind: 275kmh, Cook Strait, Cyclone Giselle, 1968
• Biggest snowstorm: July 24, 1939. 6m of snow in Gore and Balclutha. Snow in Northland and Auckland.