Weather: Fine weekend ahead for most of NZ

Fine weather is expected for most of the country this weekend. Photo / Brett Phibbs

The last of the week's bad weather should sweep over the country today in a final burst of showers before a settled few days.

A front from the south is moving over the North Island this morning, bringing bursts of rain.

It hit Wellington about 7am and should arrive in Auckland over the late morning or early afternoon period, as temperatures there reach about 14C.

There's some good news though, as behind the front a ridge will hover over New Zealand for a few days, bringing calm weather.

Metservice meterorigist Rob Kerr said it would be the longest ridge we'd had in a while and it heralded a fine weekend for most of the country, although the wind would arrive in Wellington on Sunday.

Weather Watch head analyst Philip Duncan said the coldest part of winter was now likely over.

"We saw some significant winter temperatures this year, with -22C at Lake Pukaki taking the headlines a couple of months back.

"Since then we have seen plenty of frost events - but with each polar snap it seems the extreme temperatures have actually been reduced a bit each time."

Mr Duncan said now that the days were getting longer, and parts of the country were seeing signs of early spring, it was hard to see how another -22C event could occur.

"I'm not saying we're finished with wintry weather. Snow storms, polar blasts and temperatures below average are all still possible, if not likely...but with El Nino now here coupled with the longer daylight hours, it means things are on the upwards tick temperature-wise...but only slowly.

"Spring is not summer - it's supposed to have sudden wintry changes in the mix. So we're not saying we're done with snow or frosts. But as for the absolute coldest part of the year? It's most likely behind us now."