Hot and sticky weather is on the way for much of New Zealand as a warm air mass arrives from the north.
Temperatures are expected to be above average for this time of year, MetService said, during both the day and at night.
Almost everywhere will break into the 20s, MetService meteorologist Alwyn Bakker said, and a few places will pass 25C this week.
"Lower Hutt is the standout, expected to reach 29C on Tuesday, while in the south Invercargill's Tuesday maximum of 26C will be 8C warmer than usual for this time of year."
The nights will likely be muggy too, with the upper North Island not expected to see temperatures below 15C this week. Most of the country is also leaning towards the high teens as the weekend approaches.
Along with the warmer temperatures, periods of rain are expected for most, but there will be fine breaks as well.
"The exact timings of the rain this week will be tricky to pin down, due to the nature of the incoming airmass," Bakke said.
"Colder air masses from the south tend to contain well-formed large-scale features such as fronts, which can be tracked quite accurately.
"From the north, it's a different story, as we don't tend to see those features in more tropical air, and models can change their tunes from one day to the next."
Bakker advises New Zealanders to check their local forecasts regularly.
Even though nice weather is on the way, there is a low risk of thunderstorms around the central North Island to the east coast until Monday evening. There's also a low risk of thunderstorms for much of the South Island.
The only moderate risk area covers the ranges of Gisborne, where there may be heavy rain of 10-25mm/h, MetService said.
