Both NZ & Australia have a temperature drop with up to half a metre of snow for the tops of the Southern Alps around Queenstown over the coming days.

The cooler change will spread northwards over the weekend and will also bring rain into drier parts of the North Island.

In Australia more excessive heat but the cooler change will be felt across a large portion of eastern Australia over the next day or two. We cover the high temperatures in eastern parts of NZ and Australia, the colder change on the way and who gets the wet weather between now and next Monday.

Also, 73 fires are now burning in NSW – more smoke may drift over to NZ in the weeks and months ahead.