Otago dropped to -9.1C on Saturday morning as a blisteringly cold wave sweeps over the country.
One of the strongest areas of high pressure on the planet is moving over the top of the South Island this weekend, bringing with it clear skies, light winds, and freezing cold temperatures.
According to NIWA Weather, Middlemarch hit -9.1C, Clyde saw -8.3C, Cromwell dropped to -7.3, and Alexandra and Lauder froze on -6.8 and -6.7 respectively.
The high-pressure system is one of the most intense June high-pressure systems to move over New Zealand, and will peak in the South Island by early Sunday.
MetService says most of the country from the Waikato southwards can expect frosts on Sunday morning.
A minimum temperature map for Sunday morning shows New Zealand engulfed in blue, with most of the lower South Island dropping into the negatives and the rest sitting on single-digit temperatures.
Alexandra will see -5C, Queenstown, Timaru and Invercargill will be chilled to -3C, and Christchurch and Ashburton will get -2C.
Only Auckland up escapes the cold, with Dargaville the pick of the bunch with 12C.
By Monday a northwesterly airflow starts to bring in some heavy rain at times for the west of the South Island, while the North Island may see unsettled conditions from the 18th through to the 20th.
