Another cold snap set to hit NZ - MetService

Cars lay abandoned on State Highway 5 after snowy conditions earlier this month. Photo / Alan Gibson

MetService is warning of a particularly cold southerly snap moving onto the country.

It is expected to travel over Southland and Otago this afternoon, reaching Canterbury and Marlborough this evening and Cook Strait around midnight.

Forecasters are predicting snow showers below 300-400 metres in many southern and eastern areas later today.

Those forecasters say tomorrow morning the cold snap will quickly spread over the North Island, bringing snow to as low as 700 metres from Taihape and Hawke's Bay south.

They warn the Desert Rd, Napier-Taupo Rd and Rimutaka Hill may be affected by snow in the morning.

Farmers are being warned the snow will be accompanied by strong southerlies making conditions miserable for stock in exposed areas.

- NEWSTALK ZB