Rain bands sweep country

A wet but mild start to the week is forecast with moist air from the Tasman Sea hitting our shores. However, a southerly change is expected towards the end of the week, bringing snow showers to the south and dropping temperatures back down.

A strong northwesterly flow predominates the first half of next week producing periods of strong to gale northwesterlies in the east. In addition, a series of fronts moving up the country will bring rain to the south and west of the South Island, and to most of the North Island. The heaviest rain is forecast for western areas and the north of the North Island. Warnings and watches are already in place for many areas: www.metservice.com/warnings/home

Temperatures will be fairly mild across the country in the first half of the week, with Christchurch approaching 20C on Monday. However, the flow will turn southerly towards the end of the week bringing an icy blast from the Antarctic by the weekend and snow flurries to the south.

Keep up to date with the latest forecasts and any watches/warnings at metservice.com or on mobile devices at m.metservice.com. You can also follow our updates on MetService TV, at MetService New Zealand on Facebook, @metservice on Twitter and at blog.metservice.com

ENDS

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