Brrrace for cold weather: Chilly week expected as southwesterlies bring cold snap

Saturday, 15 June 2019

Brace yourselves for a chilly few days – weather forecasters are expecting temperatures to plummet as much as 6C below average in parts of New Zealand.

A double-whammy from the cold southwesterlies and high pressure could make temperatures 'drop dramatically midweek,' according to the MetService.

MetService said southwesterly winds would start covering the country on Saturday night, and rain would reach some western areas of the country on Sunday.

Temperatures starting to cool from the South Island tomorrow as a southwest flow covers the country. A few stations wont make double figures tomorrow while a few stations up north still enjoy 16C or higher. Not bad being so close to the Winter Solstice. But the cold is coming ^KL pic.twitter.com/TWMkpdLHPo

— MetService (@MetService) June 15, 2019

And Philip Duncan, speaking on WeatherWatch, said a colder southerly change would peak on Sunday night or Monday.

READ MORE: Short forecast for all New Zealand

He expected parts of the country, including the eastern South Island, to experience temperatures 2-3 degrees below average on Saturday night.

'Very strong winds' could brush Otago and Banks Peninsula early next week and there could be storms off the South Island coast, Duncan said.

On Wednesday morning, temperatures at or below freezing will be the norm for much of the South Island, MetService said.

And in the North Island, temperatures were expected to plummet as well.

Parts of Taupō, Taumarunui, Waikato and the inland Bay of Plenty will also be either around 0C or even colder, MetService added.

On the Coromandel peninsula, temperatures could drop up to 6C below the average for this time of year.

'Even Aucklanders who boast an average 8.8C for their minimum temperature during June months will feel the cold at 4C,' MetService added.