Slip, slop, slap and wrap - the mercury is expected to hit 30 degrees Celsius across parts of Central over the coming days.

MetService has predicted some warm days ahead for the district, with temperatures ranging from the high 20s to early 30s.

Communications meteorologist Lewis Ferris said that warm weather was expected to start today and tomorrow with temperatures in the high 20s for some areas, while others could potentially break into the 30C mark.

“Monday looks to be a little cooler, but Tuesday [and] Wednesday will see the potential for exceeding [a return of] 30C.

Lewis said hot weather was expected to hang around Central leading into Christmas.

However, the week between Christmas and New Year did not have a strong signal for prolonged warm weather, he said.

“Broadly looking ahead, Jan and Feb do have a good potential for days exceeding that 30C mark at times, this is closely related to El Niño, increasingly the prevalence of westerly winds, which present as warm north-westerlies across Central Otago.”

There will still be some cooler days with rain, he said.

“Current long range forecast info suggests about normal amount of rain across Jan/Feb.”

Although Lewis could not confirm what the hottest temperature was and where so far this summer, he noted the MetService station at Pukaki Airport in the Mackenzie District reached 30.5C yesterday.

This summer MetService will trial a heat alert system for 46 towns or cities, if the forecast temperatures are expected to be unusual - very hot - for that location.

For more weather updates visit The Central App's weather button.