The feature of the this weekend is wind and rain, but it appears that not  the whole country will feel the impact of it.

Those in the firing line include western, southern and central regions but the north and east might notice the wind but hopefully not too much of the wet stuff.

Severe gales are moving into inland Canterbury and parts of Marlborough, Wellington and Wairarapa as the day wears on and torrential rain is expected along pockets of the South Islands west coast.

This is certainly in contrast to last weekend and although it was also unsettled then too, very cold temperatures delivered snow to low levels with wintry conditions setting in elsewhere.

Today and tomorrow wont be as cold, in fact quite warm in the east, with temperatures expected in the low 20s, but the wind will be noticeable and gusts are expected above 100 kph in the areas mentioned above.

Due to the windy conditions, overnight temperatures are expected to remain well above freezing in most regions with no sign of frosts this weekend however colder air is looking more likely from Monday in the south and that should spread further north on Tuesday in a southerly flow. 

Sunny and warmest this weekend: East of the North Island

Coldest and wettest this weekend: West of the South Island