Sunny weather won't last - MetService

File photo / NZ Herald

It could be time to pack away the swimming togs and pull out the umbrella for the rest of the week, as a band of rain approaches the country.

The sunny, warm weather which has accompanied workers back to the office today looks set to be short-lived, as a broad low is forecast to replace it with cloud and rain, MetService said.

"This week will bring further spells of rain, heavy and thundery in some places, as another active weather system spreads across the country,'' MetService meteorologist Dan Corbett said.

"A change to a southwest flow by the end of the week will also make it feel cooler than we have been accustomed to recently.''

Mr Corbett said the weather systems which have been moving over the country over the past few weeks are "very reminiscent of spring''.

This week's approaching weather system will spread a band of rain across the country during Tuesday and into Wednesday. A much cooler, showery southwest flow will cover most of the country through the remainder of the week.

"It will feel cold for this time of year, with temperatures struggling to get out of the low to mid-teens in some parts of the country,'' Mr Corbett said.

"Some drier and more settled weather will ease across the country by the weekend, but another bout of active weather will be lurking close by to the southwest of the country, ready to make its effects felt the following week.''