Photo: Gregor RichardsonThe first Saturday of summer has seen parts of New Zealand bask in temperatures not usually seen so early. Some parts of Canterbury have not had rain for a month but downpours yesterday helped some areas inland, he said. The sunshine in New Zealand is in stark contrast to weather in Australia, which has seen a stormy start to summer with thousands of lightning strikes. Residents were warned on Saturday would be worse but New Zealand has had no severe weather warnings. Of Christchurch's heat, Lee said the December average is for Christchurch is 21 degrees so 30 degrees was high for early December but "not unusual".

Source: Otago Daily Times December 02, 2017 03:00 UTC