Cold air covers the South Island on Thursday and starts to move onto the lower North Island.

Snow flurries are likely in the east of the South Island to low levels by afternoon. Flurries about Southland and Otago will likely only be light with not much if any accumulations apart from early morning. About Marlborough and Nelson the snow level sits a little higher and the lower North Island higher yet again.

Snow flurries will have mainly cleared in the evening for the South Island in the east and skies may actually break bringing heavy frosts overnight for some inland South Island areas.

The Central Plateau while not marked on the map should see some snow however it will most likely stick above 800m.

A front lingering over the far north of the North Island may bring few bouts of rain, a chance of a heavy fall or two as a wave moves through from afternoon feeding in from the northwest.

The West Coast of the South Island will see some reasonably sunny weather Greymouth southwards and so does Hawkes Bay / Gisborne till a southerly change pushes through in the afternoon and evening.

– Aaron Wilkinson, WeatherWatch.co.nz