A ridge of high pressure will bring settled weather to much of the country on Monday and Tuesday.

On Wednesday, the ridge will move over the North Island and allow a moist northerly flow to develop on the South Island west coast. A front in this flow is expected to move slowly over Fiordland on Wednesday followed by a colder valued front from later Wednesday into Thursday.

Current guidance points to these features being relatively weak, and at this stage we have low confidence that rainfall amounts on Wednesday and Thursday in Fiordland to southern Westland will require a heavy rainfall warning.

On Thursday, another southerly change is expected to move over much of the South Island with the coldest temperatures in the south.

– Homepage image / Zelda Wynn