A mixed bag of weather over the country today which made life interesting for many with heavy rain, thunderstorms, hail and also sunny skies in a number of regions but the temperatures still rose above their August average in some cases.

The stand out feature was Haast on the South Islands West Coast with 14 degrees at 5 this morning and then hitting a high of 19 degrees which is more like late November. They shared that with Whangarei today but the warmest centre was Giborne with 20 degrees.

Cantabrians experienced more rain and chilly temperatures today along with Kaikoura. Ashburton and Darfield managed 8 degrees, Timaru and Oamaru just 9 and Kaikoura in amongst the heavy rain, topped 11 degrees.

Of the main centres, Auckland and Hamilton were well out in front with 17 degrees, Wellington 13 and Christchurch and Dunedin climbed to 10 degrees.

Tonight, temperatures range from 1 degree in Queenstown and Wanaka up to around 10 in the winterless north. Tomorrow it may not feel quite so mild in parts but rain looks set to hold its grip for much of Canterbury and Kaikoura but hopefully a gradual easing.

WEATHER ANALYST RICHARD GREEN