Hot air from the heat wave across the Tasman will bring balmy temperatures to much of New Zealand tomorrow, Niwa says.

Photo: 123rf

Australia is sweltering under record temperatures which have hit as high as 46C in New South Wales. Queensland has broken its record for the most consecutive days above 40C with 33 days racked up in the state's northwest.

MetService said parts of the east of this country, including Blenheim, Kaikōura and Gisborne, could get to 31C.

The rest of the country could look forward to temperatures above 20C with Auckland looking to get 25C, Hamilton 26C, Wellington 22C, Christchurch 29C and 25C in Dunedin.

Here comes the Aussie heat! A puff of hot air will blow across the Tasman Sea, leading to a toasty day for much of New Zealand on Saturday ️



Turning a touch cooler for Sunday-Monday pic.twitter.com/ORlIkJA1WN — NIWA Weather (@NiwaWeather) January 17, 2019

But there's a heavy rain warning for Westland and Fiordland tomorrow, and strong winds are expected on the Southland coast and parts of Otago, MetService said.

With north to northwest winds affecting much of the country on Saturday,the mercury is set to rise to the low 30's in eastern parts of Aotearoa. Here is a snapshot of the expected maximum temperatures tomorrow. "Scorchio!" ^AB pic.twitter.com/KStObf8OuL — MetService (@MetService) January 17, 2019

Northwest gales would develop in Wairarapa and Wellington on Saturday lasting through Sunday and into Wellington Anniversary on Monday, it said.