Cold snap set to ease ahead of the weekend

Bear the dog called Bear made the most of the recent cold snap. Photo / Otago Daily Times

The chilly conditions making people shiver around the country will ease - at least for a couple of days.

Many regions still saw dramatic drops in temperature overnight, with South Island spots Tara Hills dipping to -19.5 and Lake Pukaki getting to -16C, but the cold snap should ease.

Metservice meteorologist Karl Loots said there was a "warming trend" in the works.

The coldest place in Auckland this morning was Ardmore at about 0C, he said.

"There's a warming trend going on and it should get warmer tomorrow, too.

"One of the reasons was because in the last few days we've had really settled conditions which allows a lot of heat to escape overnight," he said.

A front was expected to move northeast across New Zealand, starting over Fiordland region about midnight tonight and reaching the west coast of the South Island tomorrow.

It could bring showers, rain and possibly gale-force winds, Mr Loots said.

The North Island would be affected from about midday on Friday.

The warmer weather could get slightly cooler over the weekend - but it's not set to drop to the biting temperatures of the last few days, he said.

"We are seeing that warming trend and afterwards it'll be a bit cooler but nothing like we've seen in the last few days. The main thing will be some rainfall and windier conditions," Mr Loots said.