A cold front moves into the lower SI today but milder and windier westerlies continue for many other parts of the country.

The colder change in the south will usher in some rain, showers and snow on the ranges and hills, but most eastern and northern areas of the South Island remain dry or mostly dry.

Over the North Island the cold front in the south will bring in a few showers to western and south-western areas off the Tasman Sea – although from Waikato northwards it should be mostly dry. Track on rain radar, as being on the outer edges of the southern front means a few unexpected showers may sneak in here and there.

Most of NZ is milder than usual for this time of year today, although the very south is about where it should be around mid July temperature-wise.

Windier westerlies will surge into a number of regions making some places inland, and to the east, feel less like the middle of winter and more like late autumn or early spring – daytime highs in the late teens or even the low 20’s are possible in the eastern and upper North Island.

The reason for the windier, milder, westerly flow over much of New Zealand is due to a large high pressure system parked over eastern Australia. This keeps west to south-west winds blowing over NZ for days and allows Southern Ocean storms to brush the lower South Island with rain, snow and brief temperature drops.

Another wintry change is coming up this week (on Wednesday) for the lower South Island. It will bring more snow to the ski fields of both main islands.

For many places the weather you’re experiencing this weekend will continue on into the coming week – for a time. As the cold front from Wednesday moves into the North Island during Thursday/Friday a low pressure zone may form in the upper North Island as it moves away – bringing a potential windy and showery sou’east flow late week to the North Island (see the rain and wind maps for more details). At the same time high pressure looks to move into the South Island bringing light winds, clear skies and frosts (especially inland).

The rain and snow maps below cover the next three days and does not cover all of the rain and snow on Wednesday (up to 9am Wednesday). The temperature map below is for today, Sunday.

We’ll have more details on the upcoming snow, rain, temperatures and wind in our daily week-day weather videos – back again tomorrow, Monday, around lunchtime!

• Check your local hourly and 10 day forecasts at WeatherWatch.co.nz or RuralWeather.co.nz to drill down deeper.