Keep woollies, brollies close

Keep your winter woollies and brollies near, New Zealand, a big wet with gusty gales should sweep through the country this weekend.

MetService meteorologist Angus Hines warned people to listen for thunder and to be careful when venturing outdoors and travelling on the roads as strong winds were expected.

In Auckland, the wind was forecast to reach up to 90km/h in exposed places this morning before gradually easing during the day.

Rugby fans set to watch the All Blacks take on Australia’s Wallabies tonight at Auckland’s Eden Park should wrap up, as temperatures were likely to dip. But, Hines said, the wind was expected to die out in the evening and there was a “good chance — but not a guarantee” of dry weather for the Bledisloe.

Alas, “a pretty gnarly weather system” from the west was expected tomorrow. This meant extensive rain, particularly for the lower North Island, he said.

“The heaviest and more persistent rain was going to be south of Taranaki. North of that is a little more patchy but pretty much everyone is getting some rain.”

He said the other element this low pressure was going throw in the mix was sucking up the cold air from the Southern Ocean and spreading it across the country.

“We are looking at quite a lot of snow on Sunday and on Monday morning.”

He said the top of the South Island could also expect snow down to 500m.

The central North Island was also expected to get heavy snowfall, and the Desert Rd could be affected, Hines said.

Meanwhile, scattered wet weather and a “very cold atmosphere” for all eastern places in the South Island was forecast.

“Extreme care is required travelling throughout the country,” he said.