A wetter summer season is on the cards for the upper North Island - but that doesn't mean people should go cancelling their Coromandel holiday plans.

Niwa scientists work in some of the world's most extraordinary landscapes. These stunning environments are celebrated in an annual photography competition.

The potential environmental impacts of controversial off-shore mining will be investigated in a new multi-million dollar study.

COMMENT: Misinformation is counterproductive in battling dramatic decline of species in Auckland Islands.

Maximum temperatures sprang into the late teens in much of the country, and more good weather is heading our way.

Across the country the average temperature was 10.2C making it the warmest June on record.

North Islanders should rug up and turn their electric blankets on tonight as overnight lows drop by as much as 7C in some areas.

The first six months of 2016 were set to be the warmest start to the year yet, based on data from seven weather stations, including Hokitika.

A state-of-the-art underwater glider - the first of its kind in New Zealand - is set to uncover new insights into our offshore environment.

Summer may officially be over but forecasters are predicting average to above average temperatures for most of the country over autumn.

A massive pipi bed in Whangarei harbour is dying and there are fears the change could destabilise the harbour - and Marsden Point itself, Radio NZ reports.

Growing global market opportunities and the need to strengthen supply chains are creating a thirst for capital among agricultural co-operatives around the world, rural lending specialist Rabobank said.

Drought in much of the country is helping to drive dairy prices higher, but farmgate prices for beef and sheepmeat are weakening.

Two-thirds of more than 160 monitored river swimming sites in NZ have been deemed unsafe for a dip. Where are the worst spots?

At the age of 13. I was given a maximum and minimum thermometer, then bought a rain gauge and built my own weather recording station in Dunedin, observing the weather and recording observations of temperature and rainfall.

There is a high chance a tropical cyclone could hit the country sometime over the next few months, a report released by the national climate centre said today.

The chances of an El Nino playing with our weather this summer have become more likely, according to a just-released report from the World Meteorological Organisation.

High temperatures and scarce rainfall helped make last month one of the driest Marches on record in many places.

Inter-island ferries have been suspended after the storm that battered the South Island today whipped up 7-metre waves in the Cook Strait.

NIWA has issued its latest climate outlook for autumn - so what kind of weather can you look forward to in your region?

Kiwis hoping for better weather until the end of the year could be in luck.

The first bite of autumn will be felt over much of the country in the next few days as rain sets in over the South Island.

Rain will bring some relief to drought-stricken farms this week, but the seasonal outlook is for dry conditions to linger well into autumn.