A cold southerly change has arrived in the South Island with daytime highs plummeting today by as much as 15 degrees in places like Dunedin (compared to yesterday) and around 10 degrees in parts of Canterbury.

WeatherWatch.co.nz says the “cold” snap is perfect at highlighting just how warm it has been lately around New Zealand. Head forecaster Philip Duncan says even with the southerly coming along with a big temperature drop some regions will remain warmer than average. “Parts of Canterbury are down 10 degrees today from yesterday and yet the highs in some areas are still above average, that truly gives you an understanding as to just how incredibly warm it has been lately”.

Mr Duncan say there will be at least three southerly surges in the coming 10 days and that will see the lower half of the South Island hovering around average to slightly colder than average. But even amongst the cold there may still be pockets of warmer than average days.

Northern NZ looks mostly unaffected by any major cold changes but early next week (Mon/Tues) there will be a rainmaker and southerly for the country, especially the North Island.

– WeatherWatch.co.nz