NZ has a burst of strong & mild winds, then rain/showers, followed by cooler/colder southerly quarter winds going through the weekend.

Severe weather is most likely between now and Friday PM, with the weekend cooler but less intense as high pressure tries to expand here.

We have your full forecast for the days ahead, the upcoming weekend – and how next week is kicking off.

+ We take a look at past 15 days rainfall, to see which regions are wetter or drier than usual for this time of year.