The weather is about to go downhill as an Easter blast prepares to assault New Zealand.
A deep Southern Ocean storm is forecast to brush the country starting on Sunday, with powerful gusts and cold, wintry weather on Monday.
"Sunday sees winds increasing and gales developing in some coastal or exposed places," WeatherWatch warns.
"Monday looks windiest with the chance of gusts over 100km/h in some places. There is the chance of a few isolated power cuts and perhaps a few trees down in some central or eastern areas.
"Monday will also see a cold, wintry, change pounce on the South Island with a significant cooling down.
"Queenstown may only be in the mid-single digits, with a current high of 6C forecast for both Monday and Tuesday. Even if a couple degrees warmer it’s still likely to be a single-digit high."
MetService has issued weather watches and warnings for heavy rain and strong winds over the South Island and lower North Island during Sunday and Monday.
"A heavy rain warning is now in force for northern Fiordland and Westland, including the Otago and Canterbury Headwaters," it says.
"A watch for heavy rain is now in force for the remainder of Fiordland, also Buller, and the northwest Nelson Ranges.
"In addition, a watch for severe gale winds is now in force for coastal Buller and northern Westland, also south Taranaki, coastal Nelson and D'Urville Island."
