The temperature in Dunedin rose to 24degC about 2pm yesterday, despite showers in the early morning.
Taking advantage of the nice weather at Marlow Park, Roman Winstanley (6) of Christchurch, decided to share his new gliders with a playground friend, Daniel Eastough (8).
Daniel’s family had moved back to New Zealand from Canada only two weeks before, and he was pleased to have made a new friend before moving north to Christchurch.
He was excited to have a windy lunchtime so the two boys could show their parents how high the gliders could fly.
"You have to be careful though, they can get up to 130m high," Daniel said.
MetService meteorologist David Miller said throughout Otago, Santa had brought high temperatures, roughly in the mid-20s.
In Alexandra it reached 25degC , despite having light showers in the late afternoon.
In Oamaru it reached 20.4degC about 5pm, but residents might see thunderstorms along with the heat into the evening.
Queenstown reached a high of 20.8degC , and Wanaka 23degC , he said.
Mr Miller said temperatures could potentially rise further as the week went on, which meant "New Year’s is shaping up to be a good day".
"Wednesday to Thursday we’re looking around 23 to 26, so potentially it will get fairly high around the midweek.
"High pressure is abound for most of the country over the next few days, so New Year is looking pretty good for the South Island."
Mr Miller said Thursday was shaping up to be the best day of the holiday season.
Small showers and thunderstorms "may pop up" for short times throughout the week, he said.
