KEY POINTS:
Winter arrived in earnest this weekend, sending temperatures plunging and bringing snow to hills around Gisborne and Hawkes Bay.
And it's just getting started.
A southerly flow kept many in the northern and central regions wrapped up as the mercury fell to as low as 4C in Auckland, and 5C in Wellington.
The Turoa skifield also had light snowfalls, as did ranges in inland Canterbury.
MetService forecaster Ian Miller said that after a respite today, a cold front tomorrow would bring showers to many South Island areas.
Wednesday is expected to bring rain, possibly heavy, to Northland and the Bay of Plenty, "and that will probably spill over into Gisborne and the Hawkes Bay on Thursday", said Mr Miller.
Southwesterlies are expected to bring snow later in the week to low levels in the South Island.
The level of the hydro lakes in the South Island is below average for this time of year.
But Meridian Energy spokesman Alan Seay said: "It's nothing that's giving us any cause for undue concern. We have had some fairly strong flows into the lakes in the past couple of weeks."
The cold did not deter 250 hardy souls who jumped into the 7C surf at Dunedin's St Clair Beach for the 79th annual Polar Plunge.
About 700 more sensible people watched the action from the relative warmth of the esplanade.
