Hot weather and heavy traffic ahead

Paihia visitors enjoy a game of beach football. Photo / Greg Bowker

The holiday weekend will be clear and hot on the Coromandel Peninsula and eastern Bay of Plenty, with temperatures reaching the late 20s, says WeatherWatch head analyst Philip Duncan.

"Conditions favour northeastern New Zealand but they are not great for the rest of the country."

Mr Duncan said westerly winds and changeable weather would continue for the first 10 days of the new year.

The upper North Island would be cloudy in the west initially, but by Sunday it would be predominantly fine, said Metservice forecaster Gerard Barrow.

Drivers heading in and out of Auckland today and Monday can expect heavier than average traffic and are being urged to allow extra travelling time and use alternative routes.

The Transport Agency said heavy volumes of traffic would use State Highway One heading into Auckland from the north and south.

A traffic count on January 2 last year just south of Warkworth showed traffic volumes were 52 per cent more than average, said agency national operations manager Dave Bates.

He said people returning to Auckland from Northland had the option of using State Highway 16 from Wellsford which would miss out congestion spots between Warkworth and Silverdale.

A further tip was that drivers use the Northern Gateway Toll Road north of Auckland and avoid stopping to pay at kiosks at Silverdale and Puhoi by using the agency's online service. Users had up to five days to pay online or by freephone.

Mr Bates said traffic would also be heavy on the one-way Kopu Bridge on SH25 as people returned from Thames and the Coromandel Peninsula.

They could avoid the queue by taking the alternative State Highway 26 from the Kopu-Hikuai turnoff which joined State Highway 2 just before Paeroa.

However, motorists could expect congestion after Ngatea township - at Mangatarata intersection - where they must turn right across south-bound traffic to continue the trip to the Bombay Hills.

Care and patience was needed on rural sections of the highway network where roads were often only two-lane and people wanting to turn right were waiting for a break in the oncoming traffic.