Snow is on the way this week, and falls to low levels are forecast for the deep south.
A cold southwesterly flow will move over the country today, bringing snow to parts of the South Island and mid-week to the middle of the North Island, MetService meteorologist Nicole Ranger said.
"The freezing levels are dropping to about 800m around the South Island which could bring some snow to the high country, and we're expecting snow to the lower levels around Southland.
"There's also quite a few negative numbers overnight in Central Otago, Southern Lakes, Southland and Dunedin."
Another low will form on Tuesday in the south-east of the country, and few areas will escape the rain accompanying it, Ms Ranger said.
The rain will move away in the middle of the week, making room for a high that will deliver frosts to parts of the South Island.
"As (that high) moves away it will bring quite strong south-easterlies to the middle of the North Island," Ms Ranger said.
The strongest winds will hit on Wednesday morning and hang around to Friday for the centre of the country.
"It looks like there will also be quite a bit of rain around central New Zealand," she said.
Through the week highs in the North Island will reach the lower teens, while the temperature in the South Island will probably hit only single digits.
Meanwhile, it was believed a small tornado ripped through a shed in Himatangi Beach, west of Palmerston North, yesterday.
MetService meteorologist Paul Mollison said thunderstorms and winds gusting up to 110kmh went through the area about 2.30pm.
"It looks like a strong gust, but having said that, you can never rule out very localised circumstances that can perhaps produce a small funnel cloud."
- Rebecca Quilliam of APNZ
