The South Island is forecast to miss the brunt of Cyclone Hale, which was bearing down on the Northland, Auckland, Coromandel and the North Island’s east coast regions last night.
The MetService forecast showers for Dunedin tomorrow but predicted it would be mostly fine through the week.
Much the same was forecast for Queenstown and Invercargill.
In Wānaka, the temperature edged up to almost 32degC yesterday. MetService forecaster Sonja Farmer said that was 8deg above the average high for Wānaka in January.
The Queenstown Lakes District Council yesterday brought in water restrictions.
Residents and visitors were told to avoid using irrigation sprinklers between 6am and midnight and to keep usage of handheld hoses to a minimum.
Council infrastructure operations manager Simon Mason said sustained warm and dry weather had put pressure on supply networks.
"We have observed extended periods where water is being drawn from the networks’ reservoirs faster than it can be replaced, which obviously isn’t sustainable and can compromise the volume of water available to respond to an emergency, such as a fire or system failure," Mr Mason said.
