A colder, cooler or more refreshing change (depending on how you view it) is moving into New Zealand over today and the weekend, dropping humidity levels in northern NZ and bringing some cold nights into the South Island interior this weekend.

But next week high pressure will be in southern NZ while a deepening tropical low (still unclear if it will be a tropical cyclone or just a tropical depression) will sink southwards – this will create a windy easterly flow into NZ, especially the upper North Island, likely tilting more north-east late week as the low moves in with the chance of heavy rain and severe gales. But it’s still a week away, so we need more time to lock it in with more precision.

Phil has your weekend weather and the outlook for all of next week – plus a rainfall map to make sense of it all.