The hot, dry, weather will continue for the rest of March and into early April reports WeatherWatch.co.nz.

A strong high pressure system will lie just east of New Zealand bringing settled weather to eastern areas, east to north east winds over northern regions and west to north west winds in the south.

Some shower activity is possible in Northland but not enough to end the drought.

Yesterday fairly sunny skies and light winds saw temperatures reaching mid-January levels over northern New Zealand with 25s and 26s reported in a number of centres.

The temperatures are above average for late March and look set to extend into early April however expects weather patterns to change next month increasing the chances of rain into the dry north.

WeatherWatch.co.nz predicts that Easter will be mostly sunny for a number of main holiday spots.  Full details in our official Easter Weekend forecast here.