A weekend warm up

A weekend warm up

A ridge of high pressure will deliver settled weather to much of New Zealand to end the working week. Into the weekend, a pair of fronts will affect the country, but despite rain and wind expected mainly in the west, temperatures will be slightly warmer for much of New Zealand.

The first front will move up the South Island Friday night intoSaturday,bringing some windy and wet conditions to the West Coast. A Severe Weather Watch has been issued for Fiordland and Westland for the possibility of heavy rain about the ranges from late afternoon Friday to earlySaturday morning. A repeat act will follow with another front on Sunday.

The fronts weaken by the time they reach the North Island, but western parts will see the majority of cloud and occasional showers over the weekend. Further east, mainly fine weather is on tap with some high cloud in places.

"Northerlies will strengthen ahead of the frontal system on Saturday,allowing temperatures to climb a little higher across the country - a welcome start to August as we head into the back end of winter," commented MetService meteorologist Rebekah LaBar. Daytime highs of 18C are expected for Gisborne and Napier on Sunday, a pleasant increase from the highs of 12. 5C and 13C respectively, recorded on Wednesday. Christchurch is looking at a high on Sunday of 14C, following an 11C high from Wednesday.

Keep up to date with the latest forecasts and any watches/warnings atmetservice.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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