A late spring blast is about to hit New Zealand with severe gales through the South Island's interior and Cook Strait/lower North Island - as well as heavy rain in the lower West Coast.
WeatherWatch head forecaster Philip Duncan says from Sunday through to Thursday a Southern Ocean weather pattern will take over for many regions - meaning it'll feel more like spring than summer.
"A spring-like pattern is returning to New Zealand from today [Friday] through much of next week with severe westerly gales and heavy West Coast rain on the way," he says.
"It will mean a drier, hotter, weather set up for some in the east of both main islands too."
A NIWA graphic shows an active jet stream pattern sucking air from the Southern Ocean and sending disturbances into the western South Island over the next week.
They say this will cause windy westerlies, periods of hot air, and more sunshine than we've had recently.
MetService warns a series of fronts forecast to move across the country from the southwest will deliver strong northwesterlies and heavy rain to parts of central and southern New Zealand.
There is a moderate confidence rainfall could reach warning amounts in Buller, Westland, Fiordland and the headwaters of the Canterbury and Otago lakes and rivers on Monday. This confidence falls over the next few days.
There's also a moderate confidence of severe gales in exposed parts of Fiordland, Southland and Otago from Monday to Wednesday, though the risk is confined to the south coast on Tuesday.
For the Canterbury High Country, there is high confidence of northwesterlies rising to severe gale on Monday, then the risk reduces to moderate on Tuesday and Wednesday.
Finally, there is also moderate confidence of northwesterlies rising to severe gale in exposed parts of Wairarapa including the Tararua District, Wellington and Marlborough on Monday and Tuesday.
