Showers clear and strong westerly winds ease off over the upper North Island today as the low spirals away.

Meanwhile, a cold southerly change spreads showers up the northern half of the South Island, especially the east where thunderstorms are possible this afternoon, reaching the North Island this evening.

“Although we have a couple of features on the go today, there’s still plenty of clear skies to be had.

“There is a wide spread of temperatures across the country tonight, people south of Auckland are most likely to notice a sharp drop in temperatures,” says MetService meteorologist Ngaire Wotherspoon.

Friday provides a reprieve from the wilder weather with sunny skies and lighter winds for most under a ridge of high pressure, allowing for a frosty start to the day for Canterbury and Otago.

Photo supplied.

The fine break is short lived in the south, as cloud and showers begin to build in the west and northwesterly winds strengthen ahead of a slow-moving front.

The front crawls northeast up the South Island on Saturday, generating rain for much of the island and snow inland to 400 or 500 metres.

“At the moment it looks like the heaviest snow could be anywhere from inland Southland to the Mackenzie country. We’ll have a clearer idea closer to the time, so residents are advised to keep an eye on our website,” Ngaire comments.

A much drier weekend is in store for the North Island and the top of the South Island as the ridge of high pressure stays put.

Low overnight temperatures are expected, but not to the same extent as last week.

Next week is a different story, whilst the front over the South Island weakens, another round of warm, wet weather descends from the northwest on Monday night.