National News

Links to our three most popular Canterbury/Christchurch photo galleries.

Quake Gallery 1 - The morning of the big quake

Quake Gallery 2 - Soon after the 7.1 quake

Quake Gallery 3 - A month on

A cold change is on the way today, reaching Southland this morning, Canterbury late this afternoon and the North Island this evening and overnight.

Temperatures are expected to quickly drop behind the front.

A strong westerly continues to blow across a number of exposed regions this afternoon ahead of a cold change arriving in the south tomorrow.

The week ahead is looking mostly unsettled across the nation with low pressure south of the country disturbing the wind flow over us.

Another short lived cold spell is likely to hit the south on Tuesday but snow warnings are highly unlikely for most areas. 

The colder air will be gone by Thursday as a large high moves in from the Tasman Sea.

TOP DEBATE

It often stirs up a fierce debate when you ask which is the best place to live in New Zeaand - and often it boils down to who has the best weather.

It's entirely subjective - some think sunny and dry is the best, while others prefer humid and wet.

So - which town, city or place is the best to live in weather wise?

A severe weather warning has been issued as heavy rain and gales are expected to hit areas across the country.

Heavy rain, possibly between 50 to 90mm, is expected over the Paparoa Range, the ranges of northwest Nelson and on Mt Taranaki until this afternoon.

The MetService said streams and rivers may rise quickly following heavy rain.

People looking forward to new season potatoes will have to be a bit more patient than usual.

Bad weather means they're few on the ground.

Pukekohe grower Kevin Wilcox says new season crops are down 15 per cent on last year.

A large front is slowly moving across the Tasman Sea this afternoon prompting the government forecaster to issue rain warnings for the South Island's West Coast including east coast catchment areas and for Mt Taranaki.

As well, strong wind warnings are also in force for the lower North Island regions of Wellington and Wairarapa, plus Marlborough.

Blog - by Philip Duncan

Today’s blog comes from you 12,000 feet above New Zealand on a flight from Taranaki to Auckland. It’s a short flight, just 45 minutes, but enough to sit back, relax and put a few words to paper...well, to laptop.

The reason I’m writing from this high altitude is due to a spark of inspiration I had shortly after take off.

This week's up and down weather will continue into the weekend as a large frontal system rolls in from the Tasman Sea reports WeatherWatch.co.nz.

The positive is that most places will start off warm and sunny - but the flip side means a colder change for some along with rain and possible wind warnings.