Weather: Goodbye summer, temperatures to drop nationwide, possible snow for parts of the South Island

Unusually high temperatures were felt in Auckland over the weekend, sitting at a sweaty average of 25C.

Fortunately (or unfortunately), the entire country can expect to get a little colder this week and maybe even see an unseasonal snow shower.

MetService has set a severe weather watch in place for western parts of the South Island, from Fiordland into Westland from midday Tuesday to late morning Wednesday.

"This is associated with a front moving up the South Island, from late Tuesday into Wednesday. A cold southerly will follow with some possible snowfall near Otago, Southland and Southern lakes areas," said MetService forecaster Aidan Pyselman.

"At this stage, snow is just a possibility but it is worth noting there will be a cold change across the South."

Into that midweek with the same feature moving up, expect some heavy rain near Mt Taranaki and the Tararua Ranges.

High pressure remains in charge tomorrow, bringing settled Monday weather. A trough passes over Aotearoa mid-week, bringing a spell of wet weather. Details on your weather at bit.l/metservicenz and this severe weather outlook is at https://t.co/ePtVj8v6Kx pic.twitter.com/abloFoSNwm

— MetService (@MetService) April 3, 2022

"Ahead of the front, there will be severe Northwesterly gales in the higher ground of the South Island on Tuesday which extends into the windy spots of the North Island such as Wellington and the Wairarapa on late Wednesday and into Thursday."

Thursday looks to be settled with a ridge building from the Tasman sea.

"In a nutshell, a front will move up the country on Tuesday and Wednesday followed by a cold southerly, seeing some clearance on Thursday and Friday as the ridge builds. Monday and Tuesday will be quite warm the temperature will drop from Wednesday, with some light frosts to follow through to Friday."

Following a hot weekend, Aucklanders can expect a four to five-degree drop from Tuesday through to the remainder of the week.

"Auckland won't be cold but it will change from regular 25C days to highs of 20C. A more drastic change will be seen in Napier, on Wednesday it'll be 27C with the warm northwesterly ahead of the front and then on Thursday, it'll turn 18C.

"The southerly will spread across the country and everyone will feel a noticeable change on Thursday and Friday."