New Zealand has experienced its fourth-warmest year since records began in 1909.
Data from the National Institute of Water and Atmospheric Research released on Thursday provides more evidence of global warming, showing an average nationwide temperature of 13.37 degrees during 2019.
Places across both North and South islands sweated through their hottest days in 2019, with several sites recording their hottest years.
Also on Thursday, the Bureau of Meteorology released data showing 2019 was .
New Zealand's fifth biggest city, Tauranga, broke a 106-year record to chart its hottest year since records began.
Whale-watching town Kaikoura, the site of a gargantuan earthquake in 2016, also recorded its hottest year.
Wellington (30.3 degrees), Hamilton (32), Rotorua (32.2) and Lake Tekapo (35) were among 15 places to notch their hottest ever days.
Professor James Renwick, of the Victoria University of Wellington, noted the NIWA report showed it had been 35 months since New Zealand had a below-average month, in January 2017.
"The trend towards warming shows we are affected by climate change along with the rest of the globe," he said.
Mr Renwick said the country's warming wasn't linear.
"There were some cold spells in 2019, with a dozen daily low temperature records broken. But they were far outweighed by high temperatures, with over 100 new daily high temperature records broken," he said.
2016 remains New Zealand's hottest year on record, with a nationwide average temperature of 13.45 degrees.
Lisa Murray, weather communication head at MetService, New Zealand's meterological forecasters, said "many eastern and northern regions of the country (were) thirsty for some significant rainfall".
A satellite image showing smoke originating from bushfires burning in Australia drifting over New Zealand Source: NASA WORLDVIEW
"Many individual stations, like the MetService station in Tauranga, have seen their warmest year on record," she said.
"This continues the warming trend we have seen in recent years, as five of the last seven years have been amongst the hottest on record for New Zealand.
"Being informed of oncoming severe weather is becoming increasingly important in a changing climate where new extremes are being observed each year. In 2019 MetService issued official Severe Weather Warnings for 65 separate events."
The increased temperatures have come alongside variable rainfall.
While much of the North Island - including stations in Auckland, Whangarei and Hamilton - have notched their lowest rainfall levels in more than half a century, other places on South Island endured big wets.
New Zealand's sunniest town was Richmond, a 19th century settlement near Nelson on South Island.
NIWA takes its readings from seven stations around New Zealand: Auckland, Masterton and Wellington on North Island; and Hokitika, Nelson, Lincoln and Dunedin on South Island.
The temperatures are measured against an average from 1981-2010.
