The mercury hit 37.5C at Ashburton Airport, 34.7C at Cooptown on Banks Peninsula and 33.7C in Methven today as Canterbury sweltered through the afternoon today.
Beaches around the region were busy as people tried to find reprieve from the heat and
Ashburton Art Gallery business and communications assistant Martine Tait said it was a hard day to go outside.
"It's incredibly hot out outside. It's just a stifling kind of heat. It feels like you're walking into a sauna when you go outside," Tait said.
"I had to do a couple of errands. We ended up doing them in the car so that we could only be out in the weather for a couple of minutes."
Near Timaru, Jo from Redwood Cherries & Berries said: "People today have just been grabbing their ice-cream and going because they want to get back into their air-conditioned cars".
Record high temperatures in Canterbury on January 26. Photo: MetService
The animals at Christchurch's Orana Park spent much of the day trying to stay cool, too.
Animal keeper David Aitkin said they work hard to keep the animals comfortable.
"We had a bit of irrigation on earlier today and we're just making sure the animals have plenty of shelter and cool water.
"A few of then also had ice-blcoks with their favourite treats inside, but yeah we just monitor them and make sure they're comfortable throughout the day."
Aitkin said some of the park's birds, like these kea, were not super fond of the heat - but a dip in their pool and a fruity iceblock took their minds of things.
Heat to continue
The heat is set to continue with most of Canterbury reaching over 30C again tomorrow.
Lifeguards were prepared for a busy few days.
Surf Life Saving regional educational co-ordinator Caitlin Ruddle said they had extra lifeguards on standby.
They would likely extend patrol hours as people were swimming later in the evening.
"The safest place is obviously between the flags but if they are swimming outside of patrols we just ask people to remember their limits and stick to them," Ruddle said.
"If conditions are challenging then make sure you stay where you know you can touch the ground easily."