Cold snap to make way for rain and cloud

Frost blankets his property in Pyes Pa, and the poor horse in the background. Photo/supplied

The frost and ice that blanketed most of the Western Bay of Plenty yesterday are unlikely to return again for a while.

Temperatures plummeted to 1C overnight yesterday. The morning before temperatures reached just 0C, making Sunday the coldest day of the year.

Ice on the road caused several crashes in the wider Bay of Plenty, including two on State Highway 36 near Te Matai Rd.

No one was hurt in either of the local crashes but police warned people to take extra care as ice on the road was blamed.

Metservice forecaster Tuporo Marsters said things would begin to warm up from today with a maximum temperature of 15C and a low of about 8C.

Mr Marsters said this was because of an incoming low from the Tasman Sea, which will bring with it rain and cloud. The wet weather is expected to arrive in the Tauranga area tomorrow.

He said the frosty conditions of recent mornings were "on the way out".

"There was no blanket of cloud to keep the warmth in, but that's about to change."

Light breezes that had been coming from the central North Island - where Waiouru recorded -7C and Taupo -5C - would change today to westerlies, which would also help warm things a little, he said.

Mr Marsters said the cold snap was felt throughout New Zealand yesterday.

Nationally, Mt Cook was the coldest with -13C and Turangi in the North Island got down to -6.4C, a record low since July 2012.

Auckland was the coldest it has been since July 2015 with temperatures plummeting to 1.4C. The coldest night ever in Auckland was -1.2C in June 1994.

Whangarei reached 2C, Wellington reached 3C, Christchurch was -4C with "freezing fog" and Dunedin was -2C.

Balmy Gisborne was the warmest place to be last night with an overnight low of 5C.