The second cold snap in days is about to pounce on the lower South Island – bringing another shot of cold sub-antarctic air across much of the country over the next 24 to 48 hours.

WeatherWatch.co.nz expects little in the way of severe weather but says it will be blustery, wet and cold for a number of regions yet again.

Head weather analyst Philip Duncan says the cold snap does bring good news too.  “We expect heavy rain on the West Coast – which is good news for the area which has actually had a dry summer”.

Mr Duncan says some rain is also predicted for dry eastern areas such as Otago and Canterbury, as well as more rain for dry parts of Southland.

But the rain will be accompanied by a strong sub-antarctic wind.

“The air is coming from well south of New Zealand so it’s chilled and will dramatically cut back temperatures, especially in the south of both islands, over the next couple of days.  The system is also running into high air pressure over the North Island – that means the isobars will bunch up and gales are likely in southern and eastern areas from central New Zealand to Canterbury, Otago and exposed parts of Southland”.

WeatherWatch.co.nz expect parts of Southland to reach 30 degrees today – but come Friday some areas can expect a 10 to 15 degree drop in their daytime high.

WeatherWatch.co.nz says Invercargill and Dunedin may even fail to climb into the teens on Friday.

But despite the gloomy prediction for many the system will be short lived.

WeatherWatch.co.nz says the front will clear the South Island on Friday morning then head across the North Island over the rest of the day – continuing to weaken as it does so.

For the long weekend over the top half of the country expect a mostly sunny and settled weekend once that cool change on Saturday dies out, probably by Sunday.

– WeatherWatch.co.nz