Shivering Aucklanders woke to the coldest day in years in the City of Sails, with some chilly areas dipping below zero.
Metservice tweeted on Friday morning that it was the city's coldest day of the year so far and that the last time the city was this cold was in June 2018.
The forecaster said Ardmore was down to -1.1C, Waiuku felt the chills at -0.2C, and Whenuapai and Henderson Valley fell to 0.1C.
At 7:20am, Metservice's live temperature map showed central Auckland suburbs sitting somewhere between 0.3C and 6.4C. Down near Clevedon it was -0.9C. Weatherwatch showed similar temperatures, with Drury hitting -2C.
Up north, Weatherwatch says the Bay of Islands saw temperatures as low as 2C. It was even colder across the South Island with Springvale in Otago plummeting to -8C.
Lake Hawea and Ida Valley got down to -7C, while Omarama and inland from West Coast sat at -6C.
Pukenui in the Far North was "NZ's hotspot", reaching 12C on Friday morning.
"An anticyclone brings average temperatures for the time of year today to most of New Zealand, just the West Coast of the South Island once again brings slightly warmer than average highs. The warmest spot today will be Northland in the mid-teens meanwhile central Otago sits around 7 to 8 degrees," Weatherwatch says.
"Overnight lows for the North Island and upper South Island are colder than average due to an anticyclone and settled conditions. A northwesterly airflow for the lower South Island starts to bring slightly warmer than average overnight lows to the southwest."
Metservice has a heavy rain warning for parts of Westland between 1pm on Saturday and 7pm on Sunday.
"Expect 200 to 250mm of rain about the ranges, with 100 to 150mm nearer the coast. Peak rates of 15 to 25 mm/h about the ranges. Note, rain is expected to fall as snow to 1200 metres, but to 1000 metres in heavy falls.
"Heavy rain may cause streams and rivers to rise rapidly. Surface flooding and slips are also possible and driving conditions may be hazardous."
A heavy rain watch is also out for the Canterbury headwaters, Otago lakes and rivers south of the Rakaia River between Saturday and Sunday afternoons.
On Thursday, the Desert Rd was closed to motorists due to a heavy dumping of snow. The New Zealand Transport Agency said on Friday it was now open, but the nearby Taihape-Napier Rd remains closed.
