Blue skies, light winds and higher temperatures are a welcome sight to many Kiwis today as high pressure spreads across the country.

Winds are generally light in most places and should remain that way through Friday too.

The sunnier weather and light winds has helped lift temperatures across northern New Zealand.  In Kaikohe it’s 18 degrees this hour with 17 in parts of Auckland, Whangarei and Coromandel Peninsula.  It’s 15 in Tauranga, Hamilton and Paeroa.

It’s cooler elsewhere though – a string of 11s and 12s from Napier to the Nelson and Blenheim.

The air is cold around other parts of the South Island with just 4 degrees in Timaru, Dunedin and Gore this hour.