Bitter weather set to stay a while

A light fall of snow on the Kaweka Range between Hawke's Bay and Taupo.

Keep the hot-water bottles, electric blankets and winter duvets handy for the next couple of days, as the cold isn't going anywhere.

A cold snap descended on to Hawke's Bay after Queen's Birthday weekend bringing chilly temperatures, frosts and snow.

Metservice meteorologist Tui McInnes said although the day-time temperatures were going to warm up, night temperatures were set to remain bitterly cold.

"Over the next few days night temperatures are going to sit around the 1-0 mark, with the days looking a little warmer, 8 degrees today," he said.

"The good news is that it's looking good for the weekend, the temperature for Saturday is going to be a mild 13 with sunny skies and frosts in the morning.

"Sunday is also looking good with sunshine, a high of 12 and an overnight low of 3 degrees."

Motorists were advised to drive with caution earlier this week as the Napier-Taupo road was dusted with snow, but McInnes said that wasn't going to last.

"The Desert Road was the area that was most heavily hit by the snow, with Hawke's Bay sitting on the edge. Now that the cold front is moving between Palmerston North and Wellington, most of that snow should disappear from the Napier-Taupo pretty quickly," he said.