After a wet and windy weekend, MetService is forecasting more settled weather, but it comes with a cold bite.

A ridge of high pressure builds in from the west on Monday, pushing away rain and leaving behind cool, clear conditions and chilly southerlies.

Those southerlies will bring a real taste of winter, reducing temperatures.

Overnight lows through the week are expected to fall well into single digits for most and even into the negatives for some.

Today and into the next few days, a broad ridge is building over the country, generally bringing clear skies and cool mornings, particularly about inland areas," said meteorologist Devlin Lynden.

“For most, the lack of cloud cover, combine with long nights, let’s all of our lovely day time warmth escape out into the atmosphere.”

What does this mean for those in the Bay of Plenty?

“It will be reasonably fine for the region with light east to southeasterly winds.

“These winds may push a few cloudy periods into the coastal areas, particularly toward evenings, but plenty of sunshine will still be about,” said Lynden.

“Overnight lows will not dip quite as low for the region as it will in other regions, that said you’ll still get into the single digits, with lows for the week hovering about eight to nine degrees, and quite consistent highs of 17-19 degrees, trending slightly higher toward the end of the week.

“While winter is certainly knocking on the country’s door, temperatures about the Bay of Plenty will be more mild than for others.”

Inland areas about Canterbury, Otago, Wairarapa, The Central Plateau and Waikato can expect icy mornings for much of the week.

The west and south coasts of the South Island may hang onto a bit more cloud through the week, and some coastal parts of the eastern North Island, like Gisborne and Napier, will see a few showers persist into Monday night and Tuesday morning before clearing.

“While sunshine may be a nice change for some after the weekend’s rain, clear skies and long nights this time of year let the day’s warmth escape, setting the stage for some chilly starts,” said Lynden.

“It’s classic settled autumn weather, blue skies by day, frosts by night.”

Later in the week, Fiordland and coastal Southland will be the first to see signs of a change as a weak front brushes by, but for most, the dry, cold pattern continues through Friday.

With the early-week rain set to quickly be swept away, and only two weeks of autumn left, winter is truly knocking on our door, cold, crisp, and calm.

Stay up to date with the latest forecasts at metservice.com.