Enjoy a brief glimpse of sun while it lasts -- the country is set for more heavy rain and strong winds later this week.
New Zealanders across the country had a chance to enjoy summer today, with warm weather and light winds for many.
Today's mild weather comes after the north of the country was battered by heavy rain and gales over the weekend, while most of the South Island enjoyed sunshine and light winds.
MetService meteorologist John Law said temperatures looked set to climb back up to the high 20s for some spots this week after a distinctly cool start to the month.
High temperatures of 28C or 29C are forecast for parts of the central South Island tomorrow, while the Hutt Valley could be a close contender for the North Island's warmest place at 23C.
However, another area of low pressure from the Tasman Sea would bring a fresh bout of rain and blustery conditions for the whole country on Wednesday, Mr Law said.
"The Tasman Sea has been a great area of development over the last few days, helping these areas of low pressure to form.
"Another area of wet and windy weather will sink southwards across the country from the Tasman around the middle of the week."
Mr Law said although the South Island was lucky to avoid the rain over the weekend, it was a different story this week.
"Over the weekend we had a broad area of high pressure -- an anticyclone -- right across the south of the country and this acted to block the rain from moving southwards.
"The next system to move across New Zealand isn't going to encounter the same situation so we are expecting the rain to reach right down to parts of the South Island."
A light northeasterly would be keeping spots closer to the east coast a little cooler and with a touch more cloud.
He said at the moment, high pressure looked to be the main feature over the country from next weekend, with the return of northerlies across the country in the lead-up to Christmas.
As for Christmas Day, computers would make their first 10-day forecast for Christmas tomorrow, Mr Law said.
"Although it is tempting to treat this forecast with the same level of trust as the forecasts for today and tomorrow, it is worth remembering that a lot can change in the next few days," Mr Law said.
