A cold front is falling apart as it moves up and over the North Island on Friday, while a colder (or cooler) south-west airflow moves in behind it. High pressure is slowly moving in this weekend and kicks in for the start of next week.

Let’s get into the forecast for Friday to begin with…

RAIN:
As the front moves over the North Island today it falls apart, bringing mostly lower rainfall totals and a mix of rain, showers, drizzle patches and dry areas. Elsewhere around NZ showers are likely, with snow showers on the hills and ranges around Southland, Otago and Fiordland.

WIND:
Winds are generally south-west around NZ today and will be strongest in coastal areas. Calmer conditions are expected around many inland areas.

TEMPERATURES:
It’s a colder day in the lower South Island and that colder/cooler air is moving up across the country – but those in northern NZ will be least impacted by this temperature drop. And many places bounce back up again this weekend.

WEEKEND AND NEXT WEEK
On Saturday high pressure moves in closer, bringing a milder airflow to southern NZ and drying out the skies for many places – a few isolated showers do remain around Southland, the West Coast and can’t rule out an isolated shower along the North Island’s western coastline – otherwise dry.

Sunday looks similar but likely a little windier around the country with that sou-wester.

By Monday high pressure rolls in over the country bringing colder/cooler nights and milder days with lighter winds right across New Zealand.

On Tuesday the high drifts east of the country with light winds in most places, and milder winds from the north.

By Wednesday the high likely moves away, northerly winds ramp up and low pressure may be behind it with some wet weather later in the week.

As always drill down deeper with your hyper-local, hourly, 10 day forecasts at WeatherWatch.co.nz – or download our Free WeatherWatch App.