Another cold blast is moving back up the country over the next 36 to 48 hours and will see more heavy snow in and around the Southern Alps, more heavy rain on the West Coast and squally downpours as far north as Auckland and Northland some with hail and thunderstorms.

The cold air will cover all of New Zealand by the end of Friday kicking off a weekend of south to south west winds nationwide bringing sunny weather to north facing regions but showers in both the west and east (generally switching from west coast to east coast by Sunday though).

Next week high pressure returns.