If the rain is getting you down, and the unseasonal cold is ruining your holidays, there is good news on the horizon: the El Nino weather pattern should have faded by April or May.
And yes, that does coincide with the end of summer.
MetService weather ambassador Bob McDavitt said the southern and western parts of the country were bearing the brunt of the bad weather formed by the weather pattern.
The weather forecast shows rain or showers until Monday, and the occasional single day of respite next week.
Yesterday, 3mm of rain was recorded in Dunedin by early evening, with heavy downpours at times in the afternoon.
El Nino is a natural feature of the global climate system, and the term is used to describe the major systematic global climate fluctuation that occurs at the time of an ocean-warming event.
During El Nino, New Zealand tends to experience stronger or more frequent winds from the west in summer, leading to drought in east coast areas and more rain in the west.
Mr McDavitt said the sort of weather the region was experiencing was normally experienced in November.
"El Nino is expected to start fading in April or May.
"Organise your shopping trips between fronts," he advised.
The maximum daily temperature is not forecast to top 15degC next week, though Central Otago should reach the mid-20s mid-week.
