“I would say it will be quite likely we will be issuing heat alerts.”In Auckland, temperatures are forecast to reach into the high 20s during the weekend. Fire and Emergency Hawke’s Bay assistant fire commander Jason Hill said firefighters were concerned about the Napier-Heretaunga [Hastings] area, through to Central Hawke’s Bay and northern Te Rerenga areas. There are fears of more fires this weekend with high temperatures forecast. MetService has issued a heavy rain watch for the western areas of Fiordland about and north of Doubtful Sound, and Westland south of the Haast River. “The heavy rain will spill over a bit to places like Invercargill, Dunedin, and maybe Christchurch could see a few showers as well,” White said.

Source: New Zealand Herald January 07, 2026 16:40 UTC