Auckland enjoys a taste of summer

18-month-old Grace Steenkamp enjoys the warm weather at Mission Bay in Auckland yesterday. Photo / Sarah Ivey

The sunshine and warmth that Aucklanders enjoyed at the weekend are likely to return this week.

The MetService says today and tomorrow will probably be overcast and wet, but the sunshine will return on Wednesday and stay at least until Saturday.

"The rain will ease in the evening, but the temperatures for the rest of the week will be around 20 degrees," said forecaster Brooke Lockhart.

"You're looking at sunny days on Wednesday to Friday, with a chance of showers returning on Saturday."

Ms Lockhart said Aucklanders would also experience much lighter winds this week, which would come as a relief after weeks of strong spring winds and the 74 km/h gust that hit the Waitemata Harbour at Labour Weekend.

She said the temperatures and conditions were normal for this time of the year.

Aucklanders and visitors to the city took advantage of the conditions, dining outside and heading to the city's beaches.

Indonesian tourist Aini Marshanda said the weekend was the first time she had been able to walk around without a jacket since she arrived for her 20-day holiday two weeks ago.

"If this is really what New Zealand summer weather is like, then it is so beautiful and I really want to come back," said Ms Marshanda, who spent Saturday night on Waiheke.

Yesterday, little 18-month-old Grace Steenkamp and her 3-year-old sister Eva were enjoying the beach at Mission Bay with their dad, Eugene.

But a low that is rotating a band of rain over the upper North Island could keep the rain falling overnight over the Coromandel Peninsula, becoming heavy at times, until early tomorrow morning.

The head analyst at Weatherwatchco.nz, Philip Duncan, said a few subtropical lows were predicted for the longer-term forecast, and this was a sign that the highs that had dominated the Tasman and north of the country were easing.

Mr Duncan said this would bring calmer conditions and better weather, with cooler nights and more average highs.