Heavy rain and strong winds are battering the South Island on Monday with several severe weather warnings in place.
The heaviest rain is forecast to fall in the ranges of Westland and Fiordland with the strongest winds to the east of the main divide and a warning is in place for the Canterbury High Country.
MetService issued heavy rain warnings for the ranges of Westland south of Otira with downpours expected to spread across the headwaters of Canterbury and Otago as well.
MetService meteorologist John Law said the South Island is in for downpours and wind.
“A band of rain moves up and across the South Island today before weakening and lingering around the North Island later this week.
"The heaviest rainfall will be around the western South Island, but the eastern side of the ranges will experience some of the strongest winds today, especially through the Canterbury High Country," Law said.
But he said the good news is strong northwesterlies will bring warmer temperatures than last week's icy weather.
“The top temperatures today for places like Christchurch will be like chalk and cheese compared to the cold of last week. Highs today will reach 22C compared to just 9C last week," he said.
Meanwhile much of the North Island can expect a cloudy start to the week with plenty of sunshine across the east for the Wairarapa and Hawke’s Bay.
“There’s a covering of cloud across the west of Te Ika–a–Māui / North Island but the hills and ranges are doing a great job stopping the cloud reaching the East Coast," Law said.
Later in the week the South Island can expect quieter and drier weather with cloud and showers across the North Island.
Auckland is in for a cloudy week with isolated showers and temperatures around 18C. Hamilton is in for similar weather with clouds and showers turning to rain on Wednesday.
Rotorua has much of the same with rain on Thursday while Napier is sunny today before rain settles in later in the week.
Wellington is in for a grim week with wind, cloud and rain until the weekend.
Down south Christchurch is cloudy with rain and Queenstown is much of the same until later in the week when it will become sunny.
Meanwhile, Invercargill is a mixed bag with wind on Monday and a rainy Tuesday.
It comes after a cold snap hit New Zealand last week bringing unseasonable low temperatures and snow to Christchurch and Wellington.
Much of the South Island woke up to single-digit temperatures on Thursday last week with snow settling at sea level in some parts of Christchurch for the first time in October in 53 years.
Snow also settled further north in Wellington, with some parts of the region experiencing snowfall for the first time in more than a decade.
