Rain and shine coming on Christmas Day

Christmas will be a day at the beach for some Kiwis, and an indoors celebration for others. Photo / Alan Gibson

The first tentative predictions for Christmas day weather are out, and it looks like a mixed bag around the country.

Metservice has just released its 10-day forecast for around New Zealand, with areas including Whangarei, Auckland and Christchurch looking warm and sunny.

But Taupo, Nelson and Queenstown are having a rougher time, with rain forecast.

Metservice forecaster Ciaran Doolin warns there's still plenty of time for that to change.

"There's an important caveat with that, that beyond day six, the forecasts are computer-generated, so basically automated.

"These ones give us a bit of an idea, but as we get closer a manual forecast written by a forecaster will be more accurate."

The 10-day forecast "certainly shouldn't be taken as gospel at this stage".

Under the current forecast, Christchurch is the hottest, with a scorching high of 29 degrees.

On the other side of the South Island Greymouth is lumped with the coldest Christmas, with rain and a high of 21 predicted.

Not everyone will be unhappy about the predicted rain, with farmers in need of some wetter weather.

Wellington is currently facing a water shortage, but is among those expecting a dry Christmas.

Long range forecast for Christmas Day around the country

Whangarei: Partly cloudy, not much wind. High of 26.

Auckland: Partly cloudy, light winds. High of 26.

Tauranga: Cloudy, not much wind. High of 25.

Hamilton: Cloudy, little wind. High of 26.

New Plymouth: Rain, northerlies. High of 23.

Taupo: Rain with little wind. High of 25.

Napier: Cloudy, light winds. High of 27.

Palmerston North: Rain, northwesterlies. High of 26.

Wellington: Partly cloudy, northwesterlies. High of 23.

Nelson: Rain, northwesterlies. High of 25.

Blenheim: Partly cloudy, northwesterlies. High of 28.

Greymouth: Rain with not much wind. High of 21.

Christchurch: Partly cloudy with northerlies. High of 29.

Dunedin: Partly cloudy with northeasterlies. High of 24.

Queenstown: Showers with light winds. High of 23.

Invercargill: Rain with northwesterlies. High of 24.