Most of September had been relatively quiet for a large chunk of the country and then Spring suddenly burst into life with the passing of the equinox.

The week saw snow, rain, hail, thunder, gales, dust, warmth, sunny spells but also bitterly cold temperatures.

Those in lower North Island areas must have thought the clock had been turned back to mid-July, as freezing temperatures, rain, cold gusty winds and also snow to low levels fell in the area. 

Dust was obvious in northern areas towards the end of the week, as the remnants of the big dust storm over eastern areas of Australia made an impact on this side of the Tasman, which is a rare occurrence.

Cantabrians saw hail and thunder hit the plains for 2 consecutive days, after weeks of dry and mild conditions.

Overall it’s been a very active week and it appears as if the first week of the school holidays will see more changeable weather, as the weather systems continue to pass across the country bringing quite a bit of wet weather for much of the nation.