Spring is all about winter fading away and hints of summer coming in – today is more about the winter portion, as a cold front moves up the country.

As of 10:20am north to north west gales were climbing over 100km/h in exposed parts of Wellington. Winds will continue across the day with gusts exceeding 100km/h at times.

Further south and Christchurch has a mild 17 degrees with westerlies.  But head towards Dunedin and a further 10 full degrees is shaved off the current temp, 7 degrees with a cold southerly.

WeatherWatch.co.nz weather analyst Aaron Wilkinson says snow flurries may go as low as 300m in Southland and Otago but says accumulations may not occur, with snow melting fairly fast.

The cold is, for now, around Southland and Otago – but will head north as the day goes on.  

Today’s high in Auckland is 20 degrees with overcast conditions – tomorrow is 15 degrees with showers and sou’westers.  Auckland should bounce back into the low 20s by the weekend.

Overnight Wellington sees strong to gale southerlies – and the high drops from 15 Tuesday to 11 Wednesday.  

Christchurch also falls to 11 degrees on Wednesday following the cold change later today – but before that cold change arrives the Garden City should climb to 19 or 20 degrees.

Below is the temperature map as of 10:20am, showing the colder air pouring into Southland and Otago – but not yet in Canterbury, where it will move through later today.

– Image / Wunderground
– WeatherWatch.co.nz