Cheer up: It's warm and sunny outside

The upper North Island is bathed in sunshine today with temperatures hitting the mid 20s.

The warmer than average weather for Labour Weekend is also being felt in the South Island with Dunedin sitting on 26C, albeit with high cloud and rain developing this afternoon.

Severe weather, howver, is on its way in the form of heavy rain moving slowly up the West Coast, strong winds through the Southern Alps and Cook Strait with gales at times.

Some rain will spill over into eastern Otago and Southland for a time though, with cloud also spilling over Canterbury from the West Coast.

It's been a glorious couple of days of sunshine in the north with Whangarei on 25C this afternoon and Auckland and Hawkes Bay a warm and sunny 22C. Tauranga is also enjoying a sunny 23C and New Plymouth a pleasant 18C with high cloud and a few spots of rain.

Winds will still be blowing from the west but now tilting more north west which is warmer and often sunnier than a sou'wester is for western districts.

Yesterday, the South Island had a rapid warm up today with some places jumping 15 degrees above where they were just on Thursday.

The weird and wonderful costumes on show at Armageddon. Photos / Jason Oxenham

Thousands of people are flocking to the Armageddon Expo at the ASB Showgrounds this Labour Weekend where an ultra pass costing $1249 includes one autograph and one photo with every guest doing autograph and photo sessions.

The pass is limited to 60 people and the premium pass costing $349 for 180 people provides access for selected guest autographs and photo tokens.

For a more leisurely outdoor event,the Tuia 250 Voyage flotilla of six vessels: two waka hourua (double-hulled canoes), a va'a moana from Tahiti and three tall ships, enjoy tasty kai, family activities, music, exhibits, talks and more is taking place this weekend on the Auckland waterfront.

At 8pm tonight, there will be a 30-minute light show on Auckland Harbour Bridge to mark Tuia 250, marking 250 years since the first onshore meeting between Maori and Pakeha.

Kids Halloween Weekend has also been running yesterday and today with ice skating in Avondale.