For warmth, look north and east this long weekend, forecasters say.
Warmer conditions are expected for most of New Zealand this Queen's Birthday weekend but some popular holiday spots will have capricious weather.
Wairarapa and Hawkes Bay should be the country's driest spots this long weekend, WeatherWatch said.
Fiordland and possibly the top of Northland would jostle for the ignominious title of New Zealand's wettest areas.
"Nowhere is especially cold, but the lower South Island is exposed to a southerly by Monday which will drop temperatures as the day goes on," WeatherWatch forecasters added.
The entire North Island and most of the South Island should be mostly dry tomorrow.
WeatherWatch said the South Island's West Coast would not be so balmy, and some "spillover spits" could fall on the east coast but the Mainland would otherwise avoid rain.
Things would get "a little more complicated" on Sunday, WeatherWatch said.
The northwestern South Island from around Greymouth to Nelson would probably be rainy, and patches of rain were possible in the North Island too, especially in the top half of Northland.
The same northeasterly flow responsible for those possible showers up north could dump rain on the western Bay of Plenty and on eastern Coromandel peninsula holiday hotspots.
In a weather move reminiscent of a "no surprises" policy, rain would also return to perennially-damp Fiordland, this long weekend's wettest region.
Most of the country would moisten on Monday.
"Monday seems to get wetter by the hour as a slow moving cold front heads towards towards New Zealand from the west," WeatherWatch said.
The South Island's west side would stay wet with spillover rain forecast for Southland and western Otago.
Showers, possibly heavy, were possible around Nelson and Marlborough.
At least half of the North Island could experience rain or showers but WeatherWatch said people could still expect plenty of dry areas across the country. The dry spots could get a bit more cloudy and windy as the long weekend drew to a close.
WeatherWatch said people planning to extend their break to Tuesday should watch out for heavy rain in both islands and isolated thunderstorms as a new low pressure system moved in.
