Much of the country is in store for a dry weekend and although it could be a tad cool for some in a sou’ west wind today, only just pockets of showers are likely to affect some exposed areas.

The far south looks the coolest and perhaps the most unsettled area of the country today but conditions should improve throughout the day and tomorrow is looking much brighter in the main.

Mostly sunny skies with a few cloudy areas are set to linger this weekend with possibly are few showers marking the landscape over the West Coast of the South Island off and on.

The southerly that advanced over the country in the last 48 hours left a dusting of snow over higher levels in the south but much of that thawed yesterday below 500 metres as a result of mostly blue skies.

This morning the central North Island is seeing some crisp temperatures with Rotorua on minus 2 degrees with a decent frost but the day ahead promises to be one of blue skies.

WeatherWatch.co.nz is expecting temperatures to be near average for most places over the weekend with perhaps one or 2 degrees cooler than normal today but temperatures should begin to climb slowly tomorrow and warm up a little further next week.