The long weekend is off to an icy start, MetService says, as overnight temperatures dropped for parts of the country.
MetService reported that Christchurch Airport reached temperatures of -0.8C at 6am this morning, “their second coldest March temperature since records started in 1954”.
The rest of the country woke to relatively mild temperatures, with Blenheim and Timaru also seeing temperatures as low as 1C.
Whangārei is expected to be the warmest with a high of 15C.
Parts of the North Island will see heavy rain tomorrow after MetService issued a heavy rain watch for the Gisborne region.
Tairawhiti/Gisborne and the Wairoa District can expect heavy rain from 10pm on Saturday night until 10am Sunday morning.
Rainfall “may approach warning criteria in some places”, MetService said.
Other parts of the North Island are expected to be partly cloudy, with remaining showers clearing tomorrow.
The South Island is expected to get “isolated showers in the far south” but will be “mainly fine elsewhere”.