Kiwis are doing their best to beat the heat as New Zealand swelters through incredibly hot temperatures, but some are more at risk than others.
Young children and the elderly in particular face potential health issues during the extreme temperatures, says Dr Bryan Betty, medical director of the Royal New Zealand College of GPs.
"The symptoms you need to look out for are when you start to develop a headache, start to get a bit tired and develop fatigue, start to feel achy," he told TVNZ1's Breakfast today.
"In the more severe cases, people can start to have fits or become unrousable."
This summer has seen record-breaking temperatures across the country. Gisborne cracked 38C last week, its warmest temperature since records began in 1940.
To keep yourself safe, Dr Betty recommends making sure you're drinking a lot of water and not becoming dehydrated.
"With young children in particular, you need to look out for if they stop drinking or reduce their fluid intake.
"That's often a very sensitive sign there's a problem and they could be overheating."
People can also close their curtains during the day to reduce the heat getting into the house, use fans or air conditioning, and put a cold flannel on the back of their neck.
If people appear unwell, especially children or elderly people, they should go see their GP, Dr Betty says.
Extreme weather to worsen due to climate change
Last month has set temperature records across the country, before a month’s worth of rain fell in a matter of hours in Milford Sound.
NIWA meteorologist Chris Brandolino says climate change is making extreme weather conditions in New Zealand worse.
"You're loading the dice not only for extreme events to happen, but for them to become more extreme with time," he told Breakfast.
"Extreme events have always happened and will continue to happen. But with climate change, what happens is you take something that happens naturally and… you put it on steroids."
The upper North Island is currently in the grips of a severe drought, and fire crews in Canterbury are worried about the lack of rainfall's effect on scrub fires in the region .
But the extreme weather isn't just hot and dry.
A state of emergency is currently in place in Milford Sound , after a barrage of rain and wild weather lashed the South Island's West Coast.
"If you're getting a month's worth of rain in a day or two, you're going to have problems," Mr Brandolino says.
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