New Zealand is in the grip of an icy freeze which is producing record lows and a rush on heating supplies.
Temperatures across the country have been consistently low over the past two weeks and some districts have had heavy frosts day after day.
For the last three years July has been very mild, making this freeze even harder for people to adjust to.
Weather ambassador Bob McDavitt says New Zealanders would have to go back to the mid or early 1990s to have anything in comparison.
Auckland City has been frozen on many mornings and its average minimum temperature is four degrees below normal.
As a result the region is selling more heaters and is almost out of firewood.
On Thursday morning Auckland and Hamilton had their coldest starts but the country is still a long way from the record - minus 21 degrees.
Further south, although severe frost is a common sight in Dunedin the city has recorded a low of minus 7.4 degrees and its average minimum is four degrees lower than normal.
At Hanmer Springs a dam has frozen for the first time, the lowest temperature has been minus 12.2 degrees and the average low is 10 degrees below normal.
McDavitt says the reason is simple - winter anticyclones are keeping skies clear with the result that any heat disappears.
But there is light at the end of the cold tunnel, with a northerly and associated cloud heading for the North Island.
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