Warm and muggy weather set to continue, possible thunderstorms tomorrow

Hot and muggy weather is set to continue into next week with some typical summer thunderstorms forecast for some areas, but these are likely to be short-lived.

Things are looking good for tonight's highly-anticipated Rugby League World Cup semi-final between Tonga and England, with a pleasant minimum of 16C forecast for Auckland and Mt Smart Stadium.

Metservice meteorologist April Clark said it was looking good for the game with no rain expected and only light winds.

There was a similar story elsewhere in the country with warm temperatures beneath cloudy skies.

"There are some showers popping up in some areas - just isolated though," Clark said.

"Tomorrow we might be getting more heavy stuff with thunderstorms, particularly around the central North Island. It's the same with the South Island - there could be some isolated thunderstorms around those central areas as well."

The storms were likely to be short-lived, as was typical with summer thunderstorms. They were not expected to extend to Auckland.

"There will also be more areas of sun for the South Island as the cloud shifts north."

Tomorrow would see cloud breaking into sunny spells for Auckland with a maximum of 22C. On Monday, the city was forecast to have cloudy weather and the chance of a few showers but with the sunshine eventually breaking through and a high of 23C. The forecast was much the same for Tuesday.

It was a similar story in Wellington today with mostly cloudy skies and a bit of patchy drizzle. It would be much the same tomorrow with a high of 19C. Monday would see some cloud followed by long sunny spells and Tuesday would bring fine weather with northerlies.

"It's looking not too bad, cloudy but with things fining up as we head into next week."

Christchurch was seeing fine spells today with cloud this evening, which would linger into tomorrow, but that would clear in the morning.

"It's very typical of what we've been seeing elsewhere in the country tomorrow and for the start of the week," Clark said.

Inland areas of the South Island would likely see some hot temperatures in the coming days and into December.

"It's a very typical set-up for summer," Clark said.