Winter woollies are flying off the shelves

Duncan Gardiner has seen an increase in people stocking up on winter items this week. Photo / George Novak

With temperatures plummeting to 2C this week Tauranga residents have been stocking up on winter woollies and heaters.

The Warehouse Fraser Cove store manager, Duncan Gardiner, said there had been a noticeable increase in people stocking up on winter items this week.

"Definitely, people have been coming in to buy jackets and hats ... We're certainly seeing a good number of blankets and duvets and heaters going out the door. An amount of wood and coal is still selling. It's been keeping us busy with the nice cold snap. There's certainly a noticeable change in people buying winter lines this week."

The cold snap was expected to last through the weekend until at least Monday, MetService meteorologist Nick Zachar said.

Temperatures dropped to 2C in Tauranga yesterday morning and it was expected lows would be about 2C, and highs 10C for the rest of the weekend.

"Winds will drop and skies will clear so it looks like it will be about 2C and we are going to see some frosts.

"There's not going to be much wind. It's not going to mix up much cold air so all the cold air will settle down low and in the valleys."

Mr Zachar said there had been a lot of black ice on roads around the North Island, which made driving dangerous.

A low-pressure system was expected to head into New Zealand on Tuesday and bring with it slightly warmer weather and more wind.

Snow created havoc around the North Island this week, including areas not used to experiencing such conditions.

About 900 homes in and around Gisborne lost power and Civil Defence contacted motorists who spent the night in hotels and at a marae in the rural East Coast, advising them to stay put and to wait for updates on the roads.

Stranded motorists also spent the night in other people's houses after roads around Gisborne closed as snow carpeted the region in a thick white blanket.

Several highways were closed, including SH1, SH4, and SH2 at Gisborne and Wairoa.

A large high will be crossing New Zealand until Monday.

A few lingering showers may affect coastal parts of Hawke's Bay and Gisborne until Monday, but mainly dry weather is still expected there.

By early next week, a warm sub-tropical flow moves in - bringing a much warmer week to the entire nation.

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