A large high pressure system will bring a period of settled weather to New Zealand this weekend, starting from today in many areas. Most places will be sunny and warmer than usual from Friday to Sunday, by several degrees by day.

In Canterbury and Marlborough current clouds will clear up by this afternoon. In Hawke’s Bay and Gisborne, low clouds will stay and block a fair bit of sunlight. There may be a few coastal showers too. 

The rest of the country will be mostly fine. This weather pattern will persist until Sunday, when a large cold front approaches Southland.

Since the clear skies from this high will lead to daytime warmth escaping at night, which means overnight temperatures will return to normal levels despite the warmer than average days. We may even see a few frosts around the South Island on Saturday morning. In Canterbury and Marlborough, minimum temperatures may actually even be a little lower than usual on Friday and Saturday. 

– WeatherWatch.co.nz