Weather: Winter blast forecast as cold front from Antarctica heads towards the country, temperatures set to plummet by Friday

Temperatures are set to tumble by the end of the week as a cold front from Antarctica makes its way towards New Zealand.

WeatherWatch reported that the cold surge will see daytime highs in parts of the South Island reach only a maximum of 5C, and that there may even be slight snowfall in the lower part of the island.

The cold front would start to be felt by Thursday, and patches of rain would also be seen, but the chilling temperatures wouldn't really kick in until Friday and would last through to Sunday.

The southerly is followed by a high-pressure system which means the country's first winter cold snap will be brief and temperatures would warm up again at the end of the weekend.

#Latest: ❄️🥶VIDEO: First big wintry blast of 2022 on the way for NZ, brushes OZ https://t.co/xh1okusGN1 via @weatherwatchnz

— WeatherWatch.co.nz (@WeatherWatchNZ) May 15, 2022

This comes as head weather analyst of WeatherWatch, Phillip Duncan, says most places around the country are currently experiencing warmer than average temperatures.

Today, temperatures at either end of the country differed as two different westerlies flowed over each island.

Sub-tropic westerly wind over the North Island has brought humidity and warmer weather, while sub-Antarctic westerly wind has brought cold and dry air to the South Island.

This comes after MetService yesterday forecast warm temperatures for most regions across the country, especially overnight with some places expecting minimums of around 9C above average.

At midday today, Auckland was sitting at 20C while Whangarei's temperature was at 22C.

Moving down the North Island, Hamilton and Tauranga also recorded 20C and Taupō was not too far behind at 19C.

There is also an orange heavy rain watch warning in place for Mount Taranaki and MetServices says the area could record up to 150mm of rain tomorrow.