The first wintry snap of 2022 is on its way to NZ just as a rare out of season tropical cyclone is named near Vanuatu this morning.

The cyclone, named Gina (Gee-nah) is unlikely to remain Category 1 and drift towards New Caledonia – it’s not currently forecast to impact NZ in any way.

Meanwhile, NZ has a big southerly change coming with the South Island looking especially wintry over the coming few days – and that cold will linger into next week too.

We have the full forecast to Tuesday for New Zealand, Australia and the South Pacific tropics.