Weather: Frosty start to school holidays, severe in South Island

Many families will be hoping for snow-friendly conditions in the next two weeks of the school holidays. Photo / Getty Images

Schoolkids excited to be on term break today might be staying a little longer in bed in the coming days, with New Zealand's frosty conditions set to continue.

People living in inland areas of the North Island and much of the South Island will see frosts from this morning until Monday, according to MetService meteorologist Andy Best.

Colder mornings in the South Island/Te Waipounamu were likely to continue through to Wednesday. Severe frosts were expected for places including Alexandra and Queenstown, with temperatures set to dip below -5C.

Best said Alexandra and Queenstown residents in particular would feel the chill from Monday to Thursday.

Temperatures ranging between -4 to -6C were expected in the mornings - which was 5C below the average for this time of year.

Tomorrow

, rain was expected to hit Northland, Auckland and the Coromandel - Northland being under a strong wind watch till midday on Monday and a heavy rain watch until Tuesday.

Elsewhere in Te Ika-a-Māui (North Island), conditions would be fine apart from showers for the East Coast and Wellington.

The South Island should be mainly fine apart from a few showers for Banks Peninsula, Fiordland and Southland.

On Monday, people north of Taupō would likely see some rain, while showers may pepper areas between Gisborne and Wairarapa, with similar conditions anticipated for Tuesday.

Areas in Fiordland, Southland and Queenstown were expected to get showers across Monday and Tuesday.

Temperatures across the country would struggle to reach 15C in the coming days. While most areas in the North Island would make double figures, the likes of Christchurch and Dunedin would largely sit between 7-9C until Tuesday.

With many hoping for some time on the slopes these school holidays, Best said there was no indication a significant dumping of snow was coming in the immediate future.