Wanganui sweltered last month under some of the warmest December temperatures experienced in recent years.
December was a significantly warmer month than average for most of the North Island, including Wanganui, according to figures released this week by Niwa.
Andrew Tait, a Niwa climate scientist, said Wanganui's top temperature of the month, 29.7C, on the 24th, was the hottest December temperature since records began in 1987.
"It was a very warm month over the whole North Island and parts of the South Island," Dr Tait said.
The coldest temperature in Wanganui last month was 8.4C, on the 4th.