Yesterday marked the start of winter and Mother Nature didn’t let us down with a mostly sunny but bitterly cold day across the country.  Most regions struggled to reach above 11 degrees, including Auckland, however a westerly change in the South Island saw some places reaching the mid teens – a pleasant change for many who endured wind chills of -6 and colder during Sunday. 

Temperatures plummeted further overnight as winds died out and skies cleared ahead of a large high pressure system that should see generally settled and sunny weather for much of the week.

The high is right up there with some of the biggest New Zealand receives and coupled with the Antarctic blast across Queens birthday weekend the Weather Watch Centre expects frosty weather across both islands for the next 3 days.

Frosts are even likely in Auckland and up in to the Bay of Islands.

The high is expected to last most of the week however another cold front may brush the lower South Island at the end of the week.  It’s possible cloudy weather will spread north on Friday and perhaps across the weekend.

A sunnier sign of things to come – a cold but sunny sunset in Massey, Waitakere, marks the first day of Winter.  Photo / Dylan Ray.

A number of photos were sent in over the weekend – you’ll find them in our image gallery under Storm and Winter.