After heavy rain and strong winds for much of this week, the country is heading into a much improved, albeit cooler, situation for the weekend, according to Metservice.
A showery westerly flow over New Zealand today and tomorrow will be followed by a clearing ridge moving over the country during the weekend.
This will be followed by a return to strong northerlies and rain for the North Island on Monday.
A cold front will sweep across the country tomorrow, bringing a spell of showers to the North Island in the afternoon and evening.
Metservice meteorologist Rob Kerr said with the skies clearing for many on Saturday morning there would a great opportunity to celebrate Matariki.