Hot weather set to return this weekend

PARDON the disruption — hot weather will resume this weekend.

You could be forgiven for thinking autumn had arrived early this year, given the noticeably nippier temperatures around Otago and Southland this week.

Despite autumn’s official arrival on Friday, the MetService forecast shows temperatures around the region will return to the mid20s next week.

Meteorologist Lisa Murray said southwest winds were having a cooling effect around the region this week, dropping temperatures to as low as 4degC.

But come Sunday, she said, those winds were expected to die down and a high to the west of New Zealand would bring sunshine and raise temperatures again to as high as 28degC in Central Otago, and earlytomid 20s in coastal Otago and Southland.

Hot summer weather had caused some areas of Otago to become dry, and because little rain was on the longterm weather forecast, the Otago Regional Council was now asking farmers and other land users to conserve water.

ORC environmental services manager Martin King said people who irrigated should be ‘‘mindful’’ of their water use consent conditions and responsibilities, and actively monitor how much water they are taking.

‘‘Last summer, we had a long dry spell and a number of people did voluntary water rostering.

‘‘Thanks to people working together, we avoided the need to stop water takes.’’

He said the ORC team had increased monitoring of water levels in rivers from monthly to fortnightly, so it could ensure its live data was accurate.

‘‘Low river levels can cause river plants and aquatic life to become stressed or die, and can raise river temperatures, potentially encouraging algae growth.’’