We’re in for a rough weekend and a wintry kick off to next week as a Southern Ocean storm falls apart over NZ this weekend.

Dangerous seas, heavy snow, strong to gale force winds and squally showers are all in the forecast up until Monday.

Next week we do see a change to milder westerlies for a time – but August heralds the beginning of a new weather pattern, one that looks increasingly unsettled with more southerly polar injections.