Kiwis are being warned to brace for rain and strong winds on Wednesday, with some areas receiving snow showers.
MetService has put a strong wind watch across much of the North Island. Auckland, Great Barrier Island, Coromandel Peninsula, Waikato, Waitomo and the Bay of Plenty from Papamoa westwards are expected to receive the brunt of the wind.
These areas are expected to have winds approaching severe gales in exposed places until about 2pm.
The Kaikoura coast and Banks Peninsula are also forecast to have strong winds until 1pm.
MetService has also issued road snowfall warnings for parts of the South Island, with Lewis Pass, Arthur's Pass and Porters Pass expected to receive some snow showers affecting the roads until 8am. There are no road snowfall warnings for Napier-Taupo Rd, the Desert Rd, Remutaka Hill Rd, Haast Pass, Lindis Pass, Crown Range Rd, Milford Rd and Dunedin to Waitati Highway, according to MetService.
WeatherWatch forecasts heavy rain for parts of the country on Wednesday.
"A southwesterly airflow lies over New Zealand today, rain about the upper South Island may be heavy this morning then easing.
"Same goes for the lower North Island, rain may not ease about the east coast of the North Island till evening."
Late afternoon and evening showers may become heavy with small hail from Canterbury to Nelson and Marlborough, but this is expected to clear at night, WeatherWatch forecasts.
Summer on hold
WeatherWatch said "colder than normal" weather was spreading across New Zealand, meaning "true summer" temperatures won't arrive until January.
"After all the hotter than normal weather lately this temperature drop to below normal may really stand out for some people and feel 'cold'," it said.
"Daytime highs in some southern coastal areas may even be struggling to reach the teens today and this working week."
Looking ahead to Christmas Day, many parts of the country will be "colder than normal" with showers still possible.
"Christmas Day may feel more like a Northern Hemisphere winter this year with daytime highs in some places possible as low as 12 degrees," WeatherWatch said.
Places set to have highs between 12 and 15 degrees on Christmas Day are Dunedin, Invercargill, Oamaru, Ashburton, Timaru and Christchurch.
In the North Island, WeatherWatch said eastern areas including Wellington, Masterton, Napier and Gisborne look to have highs in the mid to late teens on Christmas.
There is currently "no real rain" forecast for New Zealand on Christmas Day.
