Last year was New Zealand's 10th warmest year on record, a drop from 2023 which was the second warmest year on record.
The National Institute of Water and Atmospheric Research's (NIWA) annual climate summary revealed eight-months of 2024 recorded above average temperatures.
NIWA Principal Scientist Chris Brandolino said temperatures in March and May were the only two months that recorded below average temperatures.
Auckland saw only 82 percent of its normal rainfall in 2024, compared to its wettest year on record in 2023, Brandolino said.
NIWA had been unveiling its 2024 weather summary. The announcement is being livestreamed at the top of this page from about 10.30am on Wednesday.
With fire bans and pouring rain the weather this summer has been varied to say the least.
The past few weeks have left New Zealanders wondering where the summer has gone.
MetService meteorologist Mathapelo Makabulane said the culprit is a "large low-pressure".
"That's shifted to the east of us, and then a high-pressure system to the west," she told Morning Report.
"Those coming together to feed cold air from the south of us, and that's what we've been feeling over the last few weeks."
But she expected temperatures to return to normal after this week.
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