Cantabrians will be looking to dust off their fans and sprinklers this week.

Christchurch is looking to reach 29C on Monday followed by a scorching high of 35C on Tuesday as a ridge of warm weather moves across the country.

MetService meteorologist Alwyn Bakker said this is 12C above the city’s average temperature for this time of year.

“Christchurch is currently looking at 3 days in a row with more than 5C above average.”

It is considered a heatwave when temperatures are consistently 5C above average for five days.

It is a similar story further south with Timaru expecting to reach 28C on Monday and 34C on Tuesday.

Dunedin and Nelson are also in for some warmer days this week, reaching 30C and 26C on Tuesday respectively.

The sunshine is not expected to last all week with a front expected to bring a cool change to much of the country from about Thursday.

It follows a bleak summer so far in Christchurch.

“People would have felt these long stretches of below-average temperatures over the Christmas period,” a MetService meteorologist said.

The south was battered by thunderstorms, heavy rain and strong gales last week.

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