This winter has been New Zealand's warmest and wettest winter on record, according to NIWA.
NIWA said the nationwide average temperature was 9.8 degrees (1.4 degrees above the 1981-2010 average).
This winter was the first on record where the temperature exceeded 1.2 degrees above average for the entire season.
NIWA says 84 places experienced a record or near-record warm winter while coastal seas also had their warmest winter on record with "persistent" marine heatwave conditions.
READ MORE: Climate change driving catastrophic weather events - NIWA
The country has now had three consecutive record warm winters and six of the warmest winters on record have occurred since 2013 .
It has also been New Zealand's wettest winter on record because of several extreme rainfall events resulting in flooding across the country.
On the bright side, the sunniest four regions so far this year are Taranaki (1701 hours), Bay of Plenty (1675 hours), Greater Nelson (1621 hours), and Auckland (1564 hours).
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