NZ’s last long weekend for nearly half a year also coincides with the biggest change in our weather pattern of 2019. Not everyone has bad weather though.

In the days ahead heavy rain will ‘set in’ to the West Coast with windy westerlies surging up and down the country and a cold change late Thursday in the Deep South will spread up New Zealand this Friday and Saturday.

However our mountains and ranges mean not everyone is in for ‘bad’ weather, with sunny dry and mild weather still forecast for several regions this long weekend. With so many moving parts to our weather pattern this week there may be some changes before the weekend arrives, but here’s the latest thinking on most settled weather this Queen’s Birthday Weekend across New Zealand.

SATURDAY JUNE 1

After a week of rain the West Coast is the place to be this Saturday as early cloud and showers clear to a dry and sunny afternoon. Conditions are mostly dry in Gisborne too, until the very end of the day when southerlies arrives.

SUNDAY JUNE 2

The West Coast is again the place to be on Sunday with clear sunny skies and dry, even with the cold southerly. This dry weather spreads east into Canterbury as the day goes on too. In the North Island it’s eastern Coromandel Peninsula, Bay of Plenty, parts of Waikato and after morning cloud or showers clear both Hawke’s Bay and Gisborne look pretty good – but colder.

QUEEN’S BIRTHDAY MONDAY – JUNE 3

Monday kicks off with warmer westerlies in a number of regions, so those in the east are most likely to have the best weather with sunnier, drier conditions and a temperature bump of a few more degrees. It’s possible northern areas like Northland, Auckland and Waikato may also have a fairly good Monday too, but there is some risk of a few showers, especially later.

– WeatherWatch.co.nz