After a week of wild weather that saw flooding, slips and wind damage from Auckland to East Cape and Hawkes Bay the sun is set to return for almost everyone this weekend.

WeatherWatch.co.nz head weather analyst Philip Duncan says a large and solid high is moving in from the Tasman Sea and will push the nasty weather out into the Pacific Ocean on Friday and Saturday.  “The high will move across New Zealand over the next 24 hours centering over the country on Sunday.  It will push the gales and wet weather off the eastern North Island and replace it with much sunnier, drier, weather”.

Mr Duncan says frosty weather is likely in sheltered parts of both islands as far north as the Bombays but says it’s not going to be especially cold during the day for most.  “We are still in a very out of character weather pattern for July that is seeing fairly mild weather continue.  This week parts of the North Island hit 18 degrees, but it’s a different story in Central Otago where highs have ranged from minus one to just plus three”.

But Mr Duncan says the lighter winds and clearer skies will mean temperatures will be down a few degrees on this week.

The sunny and mostly calm weekend will make for fantastic weather for skiers in both islands and for those enjoying the school holidays.

The only wet weather may be a few lingering showers along the North Island’s east coast from Wairarapa to Gisborne however they will die out on Saturday along with blustery winds. 

WeatherWatch.co.nz says eastern areas should see dry weather well into next week giving farms a chance to dry out and rivers to drain flood waters out to sea.

MetService says no severe weather is forecast over the next four days.

Homepage Image – sunny weather in Christchurch, David Shone