November was a warm, dry month in Whanganui, according to figures released recently by the National Institute of Water and Atmospheric Research (Niwa).

But no climate records were broken in Whanganui during an early start to summer.

Niwa meteorologist Seth Carrier said that like many parts of the country, Whanganui experienced an unusually dry and warm November.

Total rainfall for the month was just 21mm, just 28 per cent of the average, and much lower than the 102mm of rain that fell in Whanganui in November 2016.

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Two-thirds of that rain fell on November 8.

"This is the third-lowest November rainfall on record in Whanganui, with records dating back to 1890," Mr Carrier said.

It was very warm as well. Mr Carrier said the mean daily temperature and mean high temperature were 1.1C and 1.5C higher than usual respectively.

The highest temperature for the month was 24.8C on November 30, and the lowest was 7C on November 15.

Whanganui's fire risk was moved from moderate to high last Friday; and fire restrictions were introduced on Monday morning.