Kiwis stuck in lockdown face wet weather indoors with warnings a big Easter weekend storm is likely to smack into New Zealand next week.
WeatherWatch warns a "blast of severe weather" is expected to come off the Southern Ocean - caused by an "enormous area of low pressure" that will even dwarf the size of Australia.
"The first front arrives on Wednesday bringing rain to western parts of New Zealand and either patchy rain or showers for the northern drought zones," the forecaster says.
"By Thursday windy westerlies kick in and by next weekend it looks as though a significant Southern Ocean storm will bring the first wintry blast of 2020."
The long weekend will likely see wintery weather conditions in parts of the South Island and windy conditions nationwide.
A NIWA forecast map shows gusts of over 100km/h covering quite a bit of New Zealand, and it warns it might be a good idea to trim trees back before it hits.
"Some of the winds could be strong enough to cause some issues, maybe some power outages," forecaster Ben Noll says.
