A weather feature expected to bring "warning" amounts of rainfall to parts of the country this weekend will also bring grey skies and rain to Hawke's Bay.
MetService meteorologist Tom Adams said a complex low pressure system would bring wet weather to much of the country, the heaviest rain of which was likely about the ranges of Nelson west of Motueka.
While there were no weather warnings in place for Hawke's Bay, Mr Adams said the region would no doubt receive some rain.
"Next week places like the Bay of Plenty could see quite a lot of rain Sunday through Tuesday. Hawke's Bay is a bit more sheltered from the northeasterlies, but as these winds do swing around the region will definitely get some rain out of this."
He said scattered rain would begin in Hawke's Bay thisafternoon and set in more solidly on Monday, continuing till the middle of the week.
"Looking further ahead into early next week the rain isn't really going to clear until later on Wednesday. It's not going to be continuous, it would be exceptional if the rain was continuous for that whole period of time, it's more bands of rain that are going to come in."
Throughout the North Island, there was low confidence rainfall amounts would reach warning criteria in Northland, Auckland and Coromandel tomorrowand Monday, and moderate risk that a rain warning would be needed for Bay of Plenty on Monday and Tuesday.
Mr Adams advised those attending today'sSpring Carnival to take a jacket to prepare for the worst, but added the worst band of rain was still a long way off Hawke's Bay at that time.
"On Saturday the winds are predominantly from the north west so Hawke's Bay has a reasonable bit of sheltering."
Northerly winds would also keep temperatures warm despite the rain, he said.
MetService forecast a high of 19 degrees today, while tomorrowand Monday would reach just 17 degrees before Tuesday's high jumped up to 21 degrees.
"It's not exactly a very nice weekend. It's not going to be very cold but you're not going to see much of the sun either.
"I know schools are still on holiday and I'm sure some people enjoyed the last week with sunny skies around the place but there's a bit more coverage this week."
The weather was expected to clear to sunny skies again on Friday, with 21 degree highs throughout the weekend.