Another frosty night over much of the country and yet again temperatures struggle to remain above the freezing mark for some.

The mercury has dived to near zero, or below zero in a number of centres, with Whangarei getting down to just one degree first thing this morning. The mercury is between minus 3 and minus 6 for some southerners from Nelson to Bluff, which is basically a repeat performance of yesterday morning.

Once again, motorists are asked to be cautious on the roads this morning, as ice may have formed throughout the night.

The central North Island and much of the mainland have copped the worst of ‘ jack frost ‘ first thing and today it may take a little longer to thaw out, as sunshine hours may not be as high as yesterday.

Cloud is rolling in from the Tasman sea and blotting out the big yellow however a northerly accompanying it, should eventually push the mercury up for the likes of Auckland, Tauranga, Hamilton, New Plymouth, Gisborne and Napier.

Along with the overcast skies creeping in, one or two showers should move in later for western folk, with coasters on the mainland bearing the brunt of heavier falls this afternoon.Tonight could see the rain start to fall in many places across NZ, and with the cold air further south, snow is possible on the higher elevations of the South Island.

The week ahead looks likely to be a mixed bag of showers, with some heavier falls in the mix but also dry and sunny periods too.The wind should generally come in from the north but westerlies will also make an appearance midweek.

South Island weather analyst Richard Green says, ‘It shouldn’t be a week of sunshine records being broken nationally and fingers crossed, there won’t be any rainfall record totals smashed either!’