Some rain... but summer is coming

Pohutukawa flowers herald summer at Mt Maunganui. Photo / Alan Gibson

Yesterday’s dose of sunshine was a taste of good weather ahead before Christmas, but showers are due.

Sunny skies and rising temperatures delighted many in the North Island yesterday, but the taste of summer will be short-lived as rain is forecast for today and tomorrow.

Sunday sunshine and temperatures up to 19C were a welcome reprieve from an overcast and drizzly Saturday in the city and surrounding areas. But according to MetService the rain will be back from today.

The fine weather had drawn many people out on the water, and Auckland Coastguard was kept busy with eight mechanical breakdowns and one vessel that ran aground.

Duty Officer Tony Winyard said an early-morning wind warning had deterred some but summer traffic was building on the city's waterways.

"Summer's on its way, that's for sure," he said.

MetService duty forecaster Hannah Moes said a front would move down the upper North Island, bringing grey skies and drizzle to Auckland, Waikato and the Coromandel until Wednesday. "[Sunday] was a fairly typical spring time nice day," she said, but a front over the Far North would bring rain down to Auckland.

"As the front passes over the central North Island you will see a slight improvement but still remaining cloudy with some light rain."

Despite the rain temperatures could still reach 23C tomorrow and drop to a low of 16C overnight.

Ms Moes said rain was also forecast for the Bay of Plenty until Wednesday, where temperatures were also set to reach 23C but drop to 11C overnight. Hawkes Bay managed to escape the rain but will be cloudy today with sunny weather and a temperature of up to 26C forecast tomorrow.

Weekend fine spells had nothing on the heatwave across the Tasman, where New South Wales residents are sweltering and emergency services on standby for bushfires.

The mercury in Sydney rose to 31C on Friday and as high as 40C in some northwest areas.

New Zealand's National Institute of Water and Atmospheric Research forecasts average or slightly above average temperatures with normal rainfall for the North Island until next week.

The outlook

Today: Showers for Auckland and most of the North Island.
Tomorrow: Rain continues in Auckland and upper North Island. Sunny in Hawkes Bay
Wednesday: Rain starts to clear in upper North Island.