Hawke's Bay is the "pick of the bunch" for places to be on Christmas Day, according to Metservice.
Metservice meteorologist Lisa Murray said the festive day would reach temperatures of 26 degrees with northerly winds.
"Of the whole of the country, Hawke's Bay is pretty much the place to be. There will be a little bit of cloud around and, if you're near the ranges, there's a few afternoon showers but for the general public in Napier or further out near the coast it's looking pretty good."
"I think you have the pick of the bunch for places to be this Christmas."
Ms Murray said the promising forecast would continue through to Boxing Day.
"Even on Tuesday it's still pretty good with a maximum temperature of 27 degrees and a similar forecast with a bit of cloud around; which means long, sunny spells."
A front moving up the country, dampening much of the South Island for Christmas, would reach Hawke's Bay on December 27 and bring cooler conditions.
"It will probably bring a bit of rain and some southerlies so temperatures will be a lot cooler down in the lower 20s," the meteorologist said.
Speaking of the weather forecast for this week, Ms Murray said this morning would start with some cloud before becoming fine in the afternoon.
"Southwesterly winds will ease off in the morning, leaving just light winds for most of the day and temperatures will get to a high of 24 degrees."
On Friday temperatures would drop to the low 20s as southerlies moved up the country and there was a chance of a few showers that would clear in the afternoon, she said.
Those joining the Christmas shopping rush at the last minute on Saturday would be doing so in temperatures hovering around 22 degrees with some cloud cover.
"On Sunday it will be 23 degrees and a little bit of cloud around. So there will be long, fine spells on the weekend," Ms Murray said.
In regards to rain, it was unlikely it would amount to anything more than the odd shower.
"On Wednesday when the front moves over, your temperatures will cool down a bit, there will be cloud and you might get the odd little shower with it but there's not a whole lot of rain associated with it.
"What we would hope for the farming community is some inland convective showers over this period. That won't be there because, for farming communities, they need 20-30mm of rain to fall and I don't think this front has that in it."