Friday sees a brisk to strong westerly airflow lying over New Zealand, meaning skies are fairly cloudy in the west, while out east it’s mostly sunny – with just some high cloud possible.

The odd light shower on the West Coast of the South Island turns to rain in the late afternoon or evening, then moving further north overnight.

Winds through Cook Strait and about the lower South Island will be strong from the westerly quarter as a result of the same windflow.

– Aaron Wilkinson & Drew Chappell, WeatherWatch.co.nz