Gisborne has taken out the record of the hottest temperature of the Kiwi summer so far

The East Coast city hit a whopping 38.2 degrees this afternoon.

NIWA says it's the hottest Gisborne has been since 1940 and is the country's fifth warmest January temperature ever.

It was scorching across the North Island's east coast , with Whangarei, Tauranga, Napier and Masterton all reaching the high 20s to low 30s.