Monday was colder than average across much of New Zealand and Wednesday looks warmer than average for most as westerly winds return.

High pressure parked in the north Tasman Sea (NW of New Zealand) will encourage milder nor’west winds across the country over the next couple of days with airflows exiting Australia. It’s all ahead of a couple more classic cold fronts on the way.

Colder air will surge northwards this Friday and Sunday bringing more snow to the mountains and ranges in both islands – but not as intense or widespread as this week, plus it will be coming in from the west (so no snow risks for Christchurch or Wellington etc – for that to happen it needs to come in from the south to south east, as we had yesterday).

Colder air will reach as far northwards as about Waikato/BoP/Auckland by Sunday.

To drill down deeper with temperature trends please visit www.RuralWeather.co.nz.