Chilly weather a wake-up call that winter is on the way

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It's time to pull out your winter coats and thermal pyjamas as chilly temperatures across the city are here to stay.

Temperature highs in Rotorua at the weekend are forecast to be in the low teens while overnight lows of 2C to 5C will see locals stoking the fire and switching on electric blankets.

MetService meteorologist Tui McInnes said Rotorua weather was unfortunately going to keep getting colder.

"This weekend will be nippy. Next week looks like it will be a fairly cold one."

He said there had recently been an "impressive front" come through bringing with it a lot of lightning.

Once that passed through there was cold air behind it, he said.

McInnes said next week the wind would likely settle down.

Going into June, it was looking like temperatures would be slightly colder than usual at the climatological average, he said.

He said it may feel quite cold as the area had not seen colder than average winter temperatures in the past couple of years.

Snow has already fallen on the Desert Rd, which McInnes said was not unusual for this time of year.

"We are reaching that cold time of the year. It's not at all unusual, it's just the first wake-up call that there is more to come."