Winds are expected to pick up throughout the day as west to nor’ west winds pick up ahead of another front which is expected to move up the South Island today.

Parts of the country are likely to be hit by some big gusts and temperatures in eastern and northern areas are set to be warm to very warm.

Residents of the West Coast are keeping an eye on river levels today as a predicted 80-120mm could fall in the region adding to the previous totals of late Sunday and Monday which saw the Grey River rise to a very high level.

Swells are expected to also increase on the water today in western and southern districts but this maybe the entree as on Friday winds on the water could approach storm force to near hurricane force gusts in the far south about Foveaux Strait and also the Chalmers area near the Otago Peninsula.

Today the Goverment forecaster has a wind warning out for the Wairarapa which could see gusts nearing the 120kph mark but other areas may also see some very gusty winds at times.

“These belts of strong westerlies are coming in quicker and faster over the next few days” says weather analyst Richard Green.”It’s going to be pretty full on for quite a bit of the country with either wind or rain moving through or even a combination of both in a few western and southern areas”.

There’s always an exception to every rule and not every spot will get the gales or rain continouosly.

WeatherWatch.co.nz believes there will be moments of gentler winds and drier skies but in many cases they will be shortlived up until and during the weekend.