After being teased by temperatures as high as 27 degrees earlier this week the entire country is feeling the cold again today with southerlies spreading up the country.

Temperatures in the South Island are back to single digits with a string of 8s, 9s and 10s while in the North Island many places are still only 10, 11 or 12 degrees.

A cold gusty westerly is keeping the lid on temperatures in northern regions however in the past hour Auckland has jumped 4 degrees to 14 along with increased winds – which have doubled from 20km/h to 40km/h.

As of 11am showers were still moving into western regions of the North Island while a band of rain is sliding up the South Island’s east coast and should move into Wellington this afternoon.

A return to warm nor’westers is expected on Saturday in the South reaching the North on Sunday.  Temperatures in the east and north are likely to again be around the 20 degree mark.