Snow in Wanaka this morning – Images / Ross McRobie, United Travel Wanaka.

UPDATE

The cold front  that moved over Canterbury overnight delivering heavy showers to the whole region with hail and sleet in low lying areas and snow to higher elevations.

Snow fell  inland down to about 250 metres with Methven and nearby Darfield in the firing line, with reports further north of Cust reporting a snow shower during the hours of darkness. Banks Peninsula also saw the cold visitor to around 400 metres.

Christchurch experienced a bleak night with heavy, showery conditions and a strong, blustery southerly. The windchill factor dropped the temperatures to near freezing.

Conditions are expected to slowly improve this morning but this evening, colder air is anticipated bring further wintry showers with strong winds to the region.

Earlier story

Very cold air moved across the South Island overnight with reports of snow falling in inland areas.

Residents of Methven in inland Canterbury saw the flakes tumbling down earlier this morning and nearby Darfield has had sleet falling in the early hours. This is in stark contrast to yesterdays glorious sunshine and temperatures around 25 degrees.

Although it’s starting to improve slowly overhead now, later today another burst is expected bringing snow again down to around 200-300 metre mark with a strong southerly.

Temperatures as expected are very cold with Christchurch currently on 4 degrees with a gusty southerly and passing showers and further inland, temperatures are near freezing.

As of tomorrow, conditions are expected to improve quickly for Canterbury with sunny skies generally over the Easter period.