Wanganui beats the heat

Swimming in the sea and icecreams have helped Wanganui residents cool off as the warm weather continues.

Wanganui temperatures in the last 10 days have hovered in the mid-20s, with the mercury touching 27C yesterday.

Daniel Corbett, from the MetService, said no rain had fallen in Wanganui since January 18. He said the prolonged fine weather was caused by an anticyclone which had stalled over New Zealand.

"It's a fairly typical summer anticyclone, but the unusual thing about this one is that it's not going anywhere in a hurry. Anticyclones will usually hang around for one to three days, but this one has been stuck for about 10 days."

Mr Corbett said the fine, warm weather was set to continue for a while yet, with clear skies and temperatures in the mid-20s forecast until at least Monday. Showers are expected in Wanganui on Tuesday.

Meanwhile, Wanganui dairies are doing a bumper trade in icecreams, drinks and milkshakes.

Alan Stratton, the owner of Kowhai Park Dairy, said his business was currently selling at least 900 icecreams per week, possibly more.

"Our icecreams are very popular," he said.

Mr Stratton said while the warm weather was certainly a factor in this, having plenty of visitors in town for events such as the Vintage Weekend and the Gypsy Fair also helped.

The owner of Castlecliff Camp Store said sales of chilled goods had been going very well this summer.

"It has been much better than last year," he said.