Rain forecast for Hawke's Bay then weather settles for the weekend

Billy and Jesse Thomson from the Wairarapa on the beach in Napier. Photo / Paul Taylor.

After a relatively settled few days more rain is forecast for the region over the next week.

While residents enjoyed a sunny weekend with mild temperatures, the chilly bite would be making its dreaded return by Wednesday.

A complex low pressure system would be spreading across from the Tasman Sea, bringing a series of rain bands across central and northern New Zealand.

Cold temperatures were expected across the country for much of the week, with highs in the early teens for the North Island and single digits for the South Island.

MetService meteorologist Ciaran Doolin said despite a wet outlook for the week, Hawke's Bay is still in a relatively good position compared to other parts of the country.

"Today [Monday] the good weather is going to decline a little bit. Cloudy periods and scattered rain developing in the morning and then it will clear again in the evening.

"Most of the country is heading for a cold change, it's not going to be a very warm week, certainly relative to the South Island where temperatures will be mainly sitting in the single digits for most of the week," he said.

A ridge would spread over the South Island on Wednesday, while easterlies associated with the low to the north of the country would affect the North Island.

By midday Friday the ridge would establish over the whole country making for a fine, settled end to the working week.

Hawke's Bay has already reached it's quota in terms of rainfall for the month with around 190mm falling in the Kaweka Ranges during last week's severe weather event.

Around 36mm of rain fell over a period of 24 hours during last week's storm.

67.4mm is usually the average amount of rainfall in Hawke's Bay for the month of June.

Up until June 12, 95mm had already fallen for the Napier area