27 May 2010

Autumn warmer than average

6:03 am on 27 May 2010

Autumn has been much warmer than usual.

The National Institute of Water and Atmospheric Research says the autumn months of March, April and May have been seven tenths of a degree warmer than normal.

It says there have only been two warmer autumns in the past 120 years, in 1938 and 1978.

May has been particularly warm, with temperatures running 1.2 degrees above normal, and as much as 3.5 degrees higher than in May last year.