New Zealand is in for a rough weekend, as cold and windy weather makes its way up the country.
Temperatures are predicted to drop into the single digits for some areas on Sunday, and most of the country will face wind, rain and king tides on Saturday.
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It's so concerning West Coast residents are being warned to stay away from beaches between Friday afternoon and Saturday afternoon.
"Forecast combined waves are forecast to rise to 6 metres Friday afternoon, and 8.5 metres Friday evening. Waves ease below 5 metres Saturday afternoon. These large waves are coinciding with king tides.
"It’s important that people keep informed with local coastal conditions and remain aware of the forecasts and tides. They may also need to consider changing their plans if they are planning activities in or around the coastal waters this weekend."
Meanwhile, a strong wind warning is in place for Fiordland, Southland, Otago and the Southern Lakes. Strong wind watches are in place for Canterbury, Buller, Nelson and Marlborough.
The North Island doesn't escape either, the Hawke's Bay Tararua District and Wairarapa north of Masterton all have a strong wind watch.
There's also a heavy snow watch in place for Fiordland and southern parts of central Otago.
NIWA forecaster Ben Noll warned of unsettled weather across the week during a visit to The AM Show on Tuesday.
"We have a wintry weather wallop coming, in fact, this is going to come in three rounds, one on Wednesday, one on Saturday and another one on Sunday into Monday," he said.
Noll said there could be cause for concern in Auckland on Saturday as high winds hit the city.
"On Saturday morning in Auckland maybe 80,90 100km/h. We haven't seen winds in this magnitude in quite a while, still a couple of days to sort things out.
"But remember the April 2018 wind event in Auckland, we're not quite to that standard... probably a little lower than that but look it's not that far off."
Newshub.
