There will be no early slacking off for weather forecasters in the week leading up to Christmas, with the weather pattern looking unsettled – and therefore tricky to lock down. The data continues to chop and change but the general feeling is that there will be a few showers about, plenty of cloud in the west, but potentially hot, dry and sunny for some of our most popular holiday spots in northern New Zealand.

“It’s a messy set up but we expect big portions of New Zealand to be dry or mainly dry” says head weather analyst Philip Duncan “but rain could certainly threaten a few areas”.

“There could be a weak rain maker in the Tasman which could push showers or even rain to some western areas with the wind flow a general west to south west flow for many areas”.

Based on current data it would seem western areas, including Auckland were at a moderate risk of showers but areas further east may well be hot and sunny.

Some central areas may be windy with northerlies.

“The data over the past few days is saying one thing – expect changable weather conditions for many areas next week. Christmas Day isn’t locked in as overly wet or overly sunny but some areas will have hot sun while others have cloud and showers.”

WeatherWatch.co.nz expects to be able confirm more detailed regional forecasts for Christmas Day over the next 24 to 48 hours, but the unsettled weather pattern is making this process a little more drawn out this year.

– Image / File, Jo Ottey

– WeatherWatch.co.nz