A strong cold southwesterly airflow lies over New Zealand on Wednesday, easing in the evening and overnight.

Cloudy areas and showers at times for the western North Island on Wednesday, drier out east however a few showers push into Wairarapa around midday then moving further north late afternoon or evening.

Dry for a majority of the South Island however expect showers for Greymouth northwards in the west, showers for Southland and Otago for much of the day also (especially the southern half of Otago, longer dry spells further north). Expect snow flurries about the far south to 100m in the morning then lifting to 300 to 400m in the evening. A few flurries about the ranges of Buller to 500m during the day.

By Weather Analyst Aaron Wilkinson – WeatherWatch.co.nz