From Wednesday PM and across Thursday cold air from well south of New Zealand will rise up and over the nation, dropping daytime highs by 10 degrees from earlier this week and bringing a mix of thunderstorms, hail, gales, snow and sunny spells.

It’s not a direct Antarctic blast but it’s pretty close for some areas – which is why we’re going to see a typical spring-like dramatic bounce in temperatures.

The drop starts Wednesday.

The bounce back up again begins at the weekend and into next week.

For example, Dunedin has a high of around 9 or 10 on Thursday, but bounces back to 18 by Sunday.

Auckland has a high of 12 on Thursday and it also bounces back to 18 a couple days later on Tuesday.

(Above) Note the burst of blue from the south? The cold southerly around lunchtime on Wednesday is heading north.

(Above) Lunchtime this coming Sunday shows a much warmer set up as milder west to north west airflow moves back in across the country, leading into a warmer week next week.

– Images / weathermap

– WeatherWatch.co.nz