It’s not going to be a white Christmas anywhere in NZ tomorrow but in Southland today but it’s certainly a cold Christmas Eve. A strong cold change has seen temperatures tumble from highs earlier in the week. As of 1pm it was just 9 degrees in Invercargill with a near gale westerly gusting to 80km/h. This time last week it was 27 degrees.

A strong southerly is also affecting Christchurch where it’s currently 16 degrees.

In Wellington a gale force northerly is affecting some suburbs with gusts between 70 and 110km/h but the wind direction is a warm one with the Capital on 20.

Thick cloud is affecting much of the North Island with temperatures much lower than previous days – most people who have contacted WeatherWatch.co.nz today say they are more than happy to have cloudy weather if it means lower humidity in Auckland and other northern centres today.

So what about Christmas Day? Well the forecast has barely changed since WeatherWatch.co.nz first produced our long range Christmas Day forecast last week – most places are in for a sunny, warm, Christmas Day.

Humidity will be much lower in the north with a cooler south west change arriving.

Almost all of New Zealand will see a mostly dry Christmas Day with the exception of Southland, where showers will move through. A couple showers may also sneak into the West Coast – but the day will be 95% dry.

There will be some cloud about – especially morning and night – but other than that the day is looking fantastic.

Have a very merry Christmas!