After a heat wave hit Australia last week, the stifling weather spread to its neighbor New Zealand on Monday, with temperatures exceeding record levels.
The Weather Watch Service said in a statement: "It was a hot day all over New Zealand, with temperatures reaching about 35 degrees Celsius.”
“Reliable private meteorological stations recorded temperatures of 36 and 37 degrees Celsius in some parts of the Northern Island, and 35 and 36 degrees Celsius in some areas of Marlborough on the southern island."
Alex Macmillan, senior lecturer in Environmental Health at the Otago University, urged residents to be wary of unusually high temperatures, the German news agency reported.
"As we continue to face new record of high temperatures each year, climate change has begun to record its health toll in the form of overheat days," she said in a statement.
Although high temperatures in New Zealand are unlikely to reach Australia's level last week, they have drawn attention to what people are accustomed to and the importance of how buildings should be designed.
Australia's heat wave hit records in many parts of the country, and sparked fires, leaving homes and businesses powerless and even suspending play at the tennis Australian Open last week.
New Zealand's average temperature in 2018 made it the second hottest on record.
