Nothing beats a BBQ in the sunshine on Christmas Day. But with cooler temperatures forecast for some parts of the country not everyone will be so lucky this year.
Thankfully, a map by MetService has now made it easy to see who can plan to get the barbie ready and who should count on an indoors Christmas.
The map reveals northern and central parts of the country are set for mostly fine and warm conditions, but those further south might need to have a brolly handy.
Much of the country will be covered with a south to southwest flow on Christmas Day, with generally settled and warm weather in store for northern and central New Zealand. But a trough moving onto southern NZ from the Tasman Sea will bring showers and cooler temperatures, especially to eastern areas, according to MetService.
The pick of the bunch for Xmas weather will be Auckland, Hamilton and Tauranga, where mostly sunny skies are forecast and daytime temperatures set to hit the early to mid-twenties.
A high of 19C is expected for Wellington, along with cloudy periods and dying southerly winds, while Christchurch and Dunedin are set to have mostly cloudy skies with a few showers and a high of just 16C on Christmas Day.
Meanwhile, for those who thought a white Christmas was something only for those in the Northern Hemisphere, "for the high peaks of the South Island that might not be far-fetched", according to NIWA.
Snow is forecast to fall to 1000 metres in some parts of the South Island in the coming days, and sub-zero temperatures are not out of the question in some places either on Christmas Day, according to the institute.
"Boxing Day will be even chillier across the South Island, with yet another chance for snow at very high elevations."
