While the beginning of the school holidays started off wet - and in some places a bit wild - MetService is forecasting a settled weekend ahead.

MetService meteorologist Clare O’Connor explains, “A region of high pressure builds to the south-east of Aotearoa New Zealand over the next couple of days, bringing a drier northeasterly wind across the country – a real change to the unstable northwesterly flow that has definitely made its presence felt this week.”

“Ahead of the settled weather however, thunderstorms will continue over the upper North Island today (Thursday), with the last of that system lingering about the Coromandel until midday Friday. Western areas of both the North and South Island will dry out by Friday night, but the east and north of the North Island should still expect showers on Saturday, although these will also ease through the day.” O’Connor adds.

While the northeasterly will not be very noticeable for most of the country, high winds are expected around the edges, with both the Far North and southern Fiordland in line for a decent breeze.

Peeking ahead to early next week, MetService forecasts a return to a northwesterly flow, this time with a flash of warmth, particularly for the lower South Island: residents of Otago and Southland may see daytime highs of 21 degrees, almost 6 degrees above average for this time of year – no doubt welcome news for the second week of the school holidays.

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