Ice creams fly out the door in record-breaking heat

Monday, 22 January 2024

Ciaran (8) and Sophie (6) Dewar enjoying ice creams on a record hot Wellington summers day

Ice cream shops on Wellington’s waterfront were seeing a steady flow of customers looking for their sweet cold fix on Monday afternoon as the temperature soared to a record breaking 29.6 degrees.

The waterfront was busy with an equal amount of people walking along and soaking up the sun or sheltering in the shade from the extraordinary heat.

MetService metreologist Alec Holden said it was a record for January summer days in the city.

“On Sunday, we had the second hottest January day on record with about 28.8 degrees.

“Today, Wellington decided to go at it again and has cracked its hottest January day record, he said. It broke the record held in 2011, by 0.2 degrees.

George Dewar and his children Ciaran and Sophie were on the Wellington Waterfront especially to enjoy the sun.

“We had quite a quiet day but the weather was really nice so we came out for an ice cream,” Dewar said.

Enormous Crocodile and Shake Bar manager Aston Christie says sorbets were the preferred treat when temperatures went above 26C

“We’re going to head down to the lagoon for a free concert and have some fish and chips down there for six o’clock. But it is getting unbearably hot.”

Further along the waterfront, The Enormous Crocodile & Shake Bar manager Aston Christie said that while the forecast was a bit unexpected, once the clouds disappeared, the people came.

“It was a prep day for us in the morning, and then it was all go,” he said. “It's been great weather. Once it gets over like 26 degrees, everyone’s after sorbets so that’s what I was making this morning.”

Christie said that while there was a steady stream of people, he wasn’t expecting it to be too crazy.

“When it rains in the morning, generally people have made plans so it's people around town that drift down towards us so nothing too crazy.

“It should be a pretty steady day for us today.”

Likewise, Crocshack at The Lagoon manager Wilma Pride said the day had been easy-going for Wellington Anniversary Day.

“On a hot public holiday it’s generally pretty busy. It isn't quite as busy as we are normally but we're into the middle of the day and people have made different plans.”

The heat is expected to give way to cooler showers over the next few days, making for some relief as people head back to work.

Temperatures are expected to to drop to 19C by Wednesday.

Wilma Pride, the manager of Crocshake at The Lagoon, said it was a steady day for business as the sun bore down on the waterfront.

Holden said that was due to an incoming southwesterly headed straight from Antarctica.

“Over the course of tomorrow, we are expecting that to swing up over the country and it should pass over Wellington sometime in the early afternoon.

“That's not to say it's going to get to winter time temperatures, but there will be a very notable drop in temperatures overnight from Tuesday into Wednesday.”

Holden said the best thing people could do was to stay safe in the sun and keep an eye on pets who might be struggling with the heat.