A cold and frosty midweek in some parts of the country is drying out and, to some extent, warming up – a little – as showers clear and winds ease through the day on Thursday.

The large high pressure system we’ve been talking about all week is starting to influence our weather, pushing most shower activity out to our east and settling things down a little.

The South Island sits under a west to southwesterly airflow, which eases away during the day.
It’s mainly sunny and settled almost everywhere – although there could be a clearing early shower for parts of Canterbury.
Southland sees some cloud, and the chance of the odd shower during the day, along with with westerly winds.

The North Island sees a few showers along the East Coast, while morning showers clear Wellington, before afternoon sunny areas move in, along with cold southerlies in the evening.
It’s mostly sunny for the North Island in the west, with southeasterly breezes.
Some morning rain hangs around for Northland (especially in the east), the Coromandel and Great Barrier Island – before clearing by midday, with sunny areas in the afternoon.

– Aaron Wilkinson & Drew Chappell, WeatherWatch.co.nz