Damaging gales, rain/showers, some snow and a couple bursts of polar air are all on the way for New Zealand over the coming days, weekend and early next week.

Windy weather – mostly westerly driven – will ramp up over the next few days with Sunday looking especially windy around the North Island and then on Monday more central parts of the country.

Snow may get down to 300 or 400m for a time in the lower half of the South Island and 800m for the North Island but most heavy snow will be in the Southern Alps at higher elevations and North Island mountains.

Rain, heavy at times, moves into the West Coast with rain and showers for the western NI. Driest areas are the east of both main islands and the very top of the North Island.

We have a detailed forecast through until Tuesday of next week.