People waking up in the South Island and some parts of the North Island are this morning stepping out into temperatures more typical of January than April says WeatherWatch.co.nz.

Warm winds ahead of a front have lifted temperatures to 20 degrees already this morning.

As of 7am it was 20 degrees in Dunedin, 18 in Christchurch and Invercargil and 17 in Kaikoura, Westport, Wanaka, Queenstown and Gore.

In the North Island it’s a different story with Napier, Gisborne and Taupo only on 6 while Hamilton and Hastings are on 7.

A warm nor’easterly across northern New Zealand has helped lift temperatures in Auckland and Whangarei – where it’s currently 17 degrees.

WeatherWatch.co.nz says we’re in for a number of warm nights due to mainly northerly winds across New Zealand and increasing cloud cover.