A strong northwesterly airflow lies over the country on Wednesday, while a front moves onto the lower South Island in the mid to late afternoon, before heading north in the evening.

South Island

It’s looking cloudy for the west of the South Island, with rain about South Westland from afternoon, then spreading northwards in the evening.
Plenty of high cloud develops in the east in the morning.
Winds over the whole South Island are strong from the northwest with gales in the east as per the risk email.

North Island

Mostly sunny weather pretty much everywhere, with cloud increasing about Taranaki through to Kapiti in the evening, and west to northwesterly winds becoming a little gusty at times from Taranaki through to Kapiti, and Wellington and Wairarapa from afternoon.

– Aaron Wilkinson & Drew Chappell, WeatherWatch.co.nz