Today will be a warmer day across New Zealand as high air pressure spreads across the country, shunting out cooler southerlies into the Pacific Ocean.

Christmas Day was a cold one for places in the nation’s south east, with just 13 in Ashburton and Timaru and 12 degrees around inland Dunedin, as predicted by the Weather Watch Centre on Monday.

Today, however, will see a change in wind direction.  Winds will start to drift in from the north west in some areas which means summer like temperatures will return after a couple of cooler days in many centres.

Our popular tourists spots should have a cracker Boxing Day.  The Bay of Islands, eastern Coromandel, Bay of Plenty, Gisborne, Hawkes Bay, Taupo, Nelson, Wanaka and Queenstown are all in for a mainly sunny day with temperatures in the mid, possibly upper, 20s.

There may be a few showers in western parts of the South Island and one or two isolated afternoon showers may affect East Cape and Southland.

The weekend forecast is also looking mainly sunny with high pressure remaining.

We’d love to hear what it’s like where you are…PLUS, we’re also very keen to see your outdoor holiday photos.