From cold to calm: both sides of winter on show

New Zealand has seen two sides of winter in the first two weeks of the season.

‘‘The first week was all about fronts and rain and strong winds... this week we see the other side, which is the calm, still cold, high-pressure side of winter,’’ MetService meteorologist Tom Adams explained.

At the weekend, temperatures dropped dramatically, with some regions breaking records.

The weather over the past week and the forecast for the coming days were ‘‘characteristically different’’, Adams said.

Christchurch recorded its coldest night of the year with minus 4.2 degrees Celsius on Sunday morning, but conditions were expected to settle and warm up a little as the week progressed.

‘‘The colder nights for most places are behind us for the next little while,’’ Adams said.

‘‘[The] weather is looking settled for this week . . . Overnight temperatures are not expected to be as cold for the next couple of nights.’’

A high-pressure system moving warmer air predominantly over the central and northern parts of the country is expected to bring clear skies. Cold nights are still on the cards.

‘‘The clear, crisp, cold night skies are going to be more of a North Island and upper South Island thing.’’

Adams said if you wake to clear skies, it is likely there will be ‘‘decent frost’’.

Christchurch was the coldest on Monday morning, with -3.2C recorded. Wellington was at 5.3C, its second-coldest night of the year.

Today is looking like the coldest point of the week for the main city centres. Wellington and Auckland are expected to reach lows of 7C, while Christchurch will see -1C.

Southern parts of the South Island will still be a bit cloudy but are not expected to hit those ‘‘really cold’’ temperatures.

There is a bit of rain about as well – mainly for the South Island’s West Coast and southern regions, including Invercargill. Western parts of the North Island can expect some light rain at times throughout the week. Wet conditions are likely to get heavier by the weekend.

‘‘[It’s] not until pretty much Friday, Saturday that anywhere other than the West Coast sees anything more than just a millimetre or two.’’