If you see blue sky in the run-up to Christmas, you should probably make the most of it.
At this stage, the weather over the festive season will look and feel a bit more like a northern hemisphere Christmas, with widespread rain, cooler temperatures and even some snow for parts of Otago and Southland.
MetService meteorologist Alanna Burrows said this weekend, a cold southwesterly flow was expected to affect the country, with strong southwesterlies covering the South Island, possibly bringing snow to the mountain passes in southern and central areas.
On Monday, a front approaches New Zealand from the west, bringing showers to western parts of Otago and Southland, but parts of the southern and eastern coastline look to be just cloudy for the start of the week.
Unfortunately, at this stage, MetService was forecasting wet weather across Otago and Southland on Christmas Eve, Christmas Day and Boxing Day, Ms Burrows said.
“It is still a bit uncertain at this stage, with just over a week to go and some different possibilities, but it does look like there will be a westerly set-up, so that will bring wetter and cloudier weather.”
The weather before Christmas was “quite unsettled and mobile” because there were some low-pressure systems to the south of New Zealand, which might affect the weather closer to the big day.
“While it’s looking likely to be wet on Christmas Day, it’s still not certain yet — it’s still too far out.”