Weather: Rug up warm, it's going to be freezing

Skies should be clear for a sunny Sunday in the North Island today. Photo / Christine Cornege

Kiwis around the country will have likely woken up freezing this morning with temperatures falling as low as -5C overnight.

Metservice meteorologist Tom Bell said a ridge of cold air was bringing the frosty conditions to most areas, including Auckland.

A low of 3C was forecast for the south of the city near the airport overnight while more sheltered parts of the region were expected to get temperatures down to 0C.

It was to be even chillier in the South Island though, with Blenheim, Timaru, Christchurch, Alexandra set to get lows around -5C or -4C.

It would have got down to -3C in Queenstown overnight.

"In the central North Island they're probably going to see similar temperatures," Bell said.

But skies should be clear for a sunny Sunday and it should soon warm up, with towns and cities in the upper North Island getting highs of around 13C later in the afternoon.

"It's going to be a sunny day for a lot of places."

Tomorrow, it will still be a bit frosty with some temperatures close to 0C in the central North Island and inland South Island, but not many in the negatives.

"It looks like we've got a front approaching the South Island from the south-west," said Bell.

"Ahead of that we're going to get winds starting to pick up over the South Island which will actually make things a bit warmer, especially for those overnight temperatures."

A band of rain will move up the West Coast, he said.

"As for the North Island, it's looking pretty mild, might see some showers in western parts."

"That front's going to be sitting just south of the North Island Monday night. It doesn't really get too far north, probably about as far as Taupo."

Wellington might get periods of rain on Tuesday too.

Other parts of the North Island may see the odd shower on Monday or Tuesday but they shouldn't be too significant, Bell said.

"Auckland it's going to be mostly fine. Hamilton might see some showers on Tuesday."

Today's forecast
Whangarei: Fine with morning frosts. Light winds. 13C high, 4C low
Auckland: Fine with morning frosts and light winds. High of 13C, low of 5C overnight
Hamilton: Fine and frosty. Light winds. High of 12C, low of -1C overnight
Tauranga: Fine and frosty. Light winds. 12C high, 2C low overnight
Wellington: Fine with early frosts for the Hutt Valley. High of 10C, low of 7
Christchurch: Fine, with morning frosts. Northerlies developing from afternoon. 10C high, -3C low
Dunedin: Fine with morning frosts. Northerlies developing in the afternoon. High of 10C, low of 3C
(Source: Metservice)