The last week has seen the country hit by snow, thunderstorms, tornados, flooding and bitter cold. Those have been the extremes but midwinter has certainly arrived.

Temperatures in the south have been very cold with single figure highs being commonplace and temperatures near zero have once again remained in parts of Central Otago.Snow has also fallen in inland areas closing a number of roads midweek.

Although a little warmer in the north, heavy rain has occurred in places and yesterday, violent winds hit parts of Kaitaia and Northland with damage to some property.

It appears as if the worst isn’t over for southerners today with more rain and snow expected to take hold east of the divide and for northerners, sunscreen  certainly wont be high on the priority list!