Auckland, Wellington, Dunedin see coldest night of year

A fresh fall of snow on Queenstown's Coronet Peak skifield. Photo / Coronet Peak

Along with wild weather, last night also brought the coldest night of the year for Auckland, Wellington and Dunedin - and tonight could prove the chilliest for Christchurch and Hamilton.

Temperatures dropped to 9C in Auckland, 7C in Wellington and 4C in Dunedin overnight, after an Antarctic southerly blew up the country, bringing snow to colder areas.

MetService forecaster Tom Adams said Christchurch was forecast to get a minimum temperature of just 1C tonight - "colder than any night so far this year, and in fact colder than any since November".

Image / MetService

"Similarly Queenstown will drop below zero for the first time this year, with -1 degrees in their forecast."

Hamilton would also have its coldest night of the year - but Auckland, Wellington and Dunedin were colder last night than tonight is expected to be.

"Frosts and ice can still occur when the air temperature is just above zero, as the ground is better at radiating heat so can cool faster and further.

"This means to take care on the roads for the next few days, although temperatures pick up again on Sunday."