A front brings rain to the North Island this afternoon and evening after what has been a drenching for the top of the South Island this morning.

Expect heavy falls for Wellington up through to Taranaki in the west this afternoon, a bit later this afternoon and into this evening further north may see a heavy fall or two. Finally western East Cape gets some heavy rain this evening.

Warm for the North Island today and cooler further south.

Some wet weather eventually spreads northwards in the east during today, this evening and overnight a trough marking some very cold air brings an increase in intensity to some showers for Canterbury (snow to 600m) then tomorrow for Wellington through to about Napier (snow above 800m). These showers could contain small hail.

For any watches and warnings in relation to the weather today and tomorrow please go to this page here.

Frosty for Southland and Otago on Monday morning as skies clear with high pressure moving in, frosts spread further north on Tuesday morning and will likely spread to the coast in Canterbury despite the map below showing frosts further inland. Marlborough may get a frost overnight Monday / Tuesday morning.

Ok now to the week ahead.

The coming week is going to be dominated by high pressure and mainly settled conditions, yes Monday still sees unsettled weather for some (mainly in the east) but that will gradually clear away from the south as the day progresses. A front or two may brush certain areas, Tuesday and Friday more specifically in the south, but nothing to write home about.

Expect some sunny weather coming up for most with frosts possible in the mornings.

Main story image: Rain radar Sunday 18th May 2025 8:35am, Metservice.com