We may be just a month-and-a-half away from summer, but residents on the South Island's east coast are being told to brace for a wintry blast that'll bring heavy snow on Friday evening.
And while MetService says the snowfall will be brief, it's issued a severe weather watch for Canterbury and Kaikoura, with 5-10cm of snow expected overnight at areas above 500m.
The extreme conditions come as a new low moves northwards across the South Island on Friday evening, bringing freezing rain and snow above 500 metres.
A number of the island's high-altitude roads already have warnings in place through to Saturday morning including Lewis Pass and Desert Rd.
Newshub.
