The Antarctic air flow is only just now moving in to the New Zealand area and will continue to gradually move northwards over the next 48 hours.

By the end of the weekend it should cover the entire country and as the air flow slows down (winds ease) the ‘feels like’ temperatures will be replaced by actual temperatures down to -12 through some inland South Island main centres. We’ll have more information about the weekend overnight lows on Friday morning.

Take a look below at the 7:30pm Misery Index (measuring how cold it feels in exposed, windy, wet/snowy areas).

In the Southern Alps winchills are down to -8 while lower down it’s between -2 and -5 at the moment.