Much of the country is in for an absolute scorcher of a weekend

NIWA forecaster Ben Noll says the hottest days of summer are still ahead of us, and parts of the South Island will see temperatures over 35 degrees.

He's expecting the warm trend will stretch out towards the end of next week.

For those concerned about drought in parched spots at the north of the North Island, there's no sign of rain for the next week at least.