East the place to be for a feast of New Year sunshine

If you're after sun on New Year's Day, head to the Mount. Photo / Supplied

Holidaymakers, rejoice - New Year's Day is tipped to offer sunny weather for most of the country and some respite from the recent muggy, humid weather.

WeatherWatch.co.nz head weather analyst Philip Duncan said eastern parts of New Zealand would be graced by hot, dry weather on January 1.

This includes places such as the Bay of Islands, eastern Coromandel Peninsula, the Bay of Plenty, Gisborne, Hawkes Bay and Nelson.

"That might mean that the first day of January will be a fairly dry sunny one for many areas."

The wind is likely to swing to a southwesterly and there will be a high "waiting in the wings".

It meant that the humidity might not be too extreme. Duncan said it might get humid today and Monday but, if it changed to a south-westerly, it would be hot and dry. "Perfect beach weather."

But the outlook is not quite as good for those in western parts of the country and in Auckland, with cloudier weather likely.

"If there's any rain it's more likely to be on the west coast of the South Island and in coastal Southland."

For New Year's Eve celebrations, Duncan said temperatures might be a little cooler than recent weeks.

And don't get the windsurfer out just yet - the wind isn't likely to whip up the whitecaps too much on the nation's first holiday of the year. "It might be breezy but not stormy."

The windiest places would be Invercargill and Dunedin but overall "it doesn't look too bad", said Duncan.