New Zealand records warmest winter, no thanks to climate change

Rising water traps a vehicle in Kumeu, near Auckland, New Zealand, on Aug 31, after the region was battered with heavy rain making the area's second wettest day since records began in 1943. Photos: Dean Purcell/New Zealand Herald/AP

The southern winter that just ended in New Zealand was the warmest ever recorded, and scientists say that climate change is driving temperatures ever higher.

For the three months through August, the average temperature was 9.8°C (50°F), according to New Zealand's National Institute of Water and Atmospheric Research.