A bitterly cold south westerly wind is creating some nasty wind chills in the South Island tonight.  Snow fell in Southland, Otago and Canterbury today and is helping to super chill the air.

At 7pm the wind chill was around -3 in Christchurch city with it dropped to as low as -8 in exposed parts of Banks Peninsula.  Further snow flurries is expected to fall over the Port Hills and Banks Peninsula tonight but nothing significant is on the way.

Further South and the wind chill is currently -3 in Dunedin.

Motorists driving tonight across the Central Plateau are advised to be up to date with the latest road conditions with snow expected over night.  Light snow may also affect the Rimutaka Ranges and any other highways above 200metres in southern parts of the North Island.

The air, directly off Antarctica, is going to knock Tuesday’s highs back significantly.  Single digit highs are likely for most main centres with even Auckland struggling to make it over 11 or 12.