Rain here to stay for the rest of the week

A digger is loaded after working in wet conditions on Marine Parade. Photo / Warren Buckland

While a wet morning was a good excuse for a relaxing lie-in for busy mums and families on Mother's Day yesterday, clearing skies in the afternoon were not a signal of any ongoing improvement for the next few days.

Despite the appearance of sunshine yesterday afternoon, the unsettled trend in the weather over the weekend was set to continue as a low-pressure system slowly moved towards the country from the Southern Ocean, said MetService meteorologist Tui McInnes.

"The extended frontal system has pushed away from the North Island, seeing a brief improvement in the wet weather on Sunday, however, the main guts of the system are still lying out west and injecting fronts into the area, which means that any improvements are likely to be temporary."

While the rain was expected to be fairly consistent today, some clear spots were expected for Tuesday but no real reprieve was expected for the rest of the week.

"As the low moves across the country it paves the way for continued cloudy and wet conditions and the temperature will dip with cooler air coming through."

He said that while the overnight minimum temperatures could descend into single figures, overall the conditions would remain mild in Hawke's Bay - with average highs ranging between 17 and 22 degrees predicted.

Thanks to the shelter from the ranges in the west, the region was less exposed to the heavy rain that would afflict more exposed regions such as the Bay of Plenty and Nelson, he said.

"It's still going to be cloudy and wet though, there are no fun words for it."

Low cloud and fog would be associated with the moisture in the system, a timely reminder for people to take care and stay safe when out on the roads, he added.