It will be an extra cold night for those without power tonight in Christchurch as the mercury falls to around zero under clear skies and little to no wind says WeatherWatch.co.nz.

Frosts are expected tomorrow morning with sunny weather following – co-incidently the same weather conditions that followed the powerful 7.1 September 4 earthquake last year.

WeatherWatch.co.nz says with the coldest time of the year now moving into Canterbury it would pay for people to have heating that doesn’t rely on electricity. 

“Gas heaters could prove to be a valuable investment with the power infrastructure so fragile in Christchurch” says head weather analyst Philip Duncan.  “A fairly moderate winter storm could potentially cause serious electricity issues in the city too, so it’s a safety net for both earthquakes and possible winter storms”. 

Winds will pick up from the north east later on Tuesday ahead of a cold change on Wednesday which will see a brisk, cold, south west change.  Daytime highs will only just make double digits after the cold change moves through during Wednesday, with cold conditions expected for the rest of the week.

Conditions will be mostly dry this week but the race will be on to clear liquefaction before winds cause more dust issues over the city, which happened in February.  However weather conditions are damper in winter than summer so hopefully dust levels won’t be as extreme.

– WeatherWatch.co.nz